Parliamentary debate : Guptagate

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Mail & Guardian

The political fallout over the politically connected Gupta family landing at Waterkloof Air Force Base comes into sharp focus on Wednesday as the debate moves to the National Assembly. Follow our live blog for the latest updates from Parliament.

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Design Indaba 2013

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Mail & Guardian

Follow the live blog for the latest updates from selected sessions of this year’s Design Indaba.

5:26:13 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The audience is heading to the Inda-bar. That’s a wrap.

5:25:41 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Fin.

5:23:52 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John has just wrapped with the observation that there is a public perception (backed by empirical evidence) that advertising standards have dropped. ‘It’s creative people who will make the change. You’ve got to take responsibility.’

5:18:04 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: How do you speak to contemporary audiences? Start an interesting conversation across mediums.

5:16:27 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: TV is having a golden age. An important consideration for client campaigns. An TV spot is being show for The Guardian. Brilliant, witty, memorable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDGrfhJH1P4

5:12:11 pm - Fri 1 Mar

We’re being shown an historic BBH Levi’s print campaign shot by Richard Avedon.

5:09:59 pm - Fri 1 Mar

We’ve just been taken through the evolution of a print ad into television, using Boddington’s as an example.

5:04:07 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: Humour is the enemy of authority.

5:02:56 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John is critiquing Benetton’s famously controversial Pieta and Newborn Baby campaigns as being too cynical. They went beyond irreverence

5:00:31 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Warhol was a great example of doing irreverence the right way.

4:58:27 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: There can be problems with irreverence. As communicators, we can’t just pull something down and put nothing positive back in its place.

4:57:26 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: We are presented with choice on an alarming level. Even something as simple as buying a pair of shoes. We, as communicators, need to find a way to make people look at what we’re doing, and not the other person. Irreverence forces you to think, to consider, and is therefore very powerful.

4:55:34 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Irreverence results in new thinking. It infects architecture too. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water House; The Guggenheim. The goes on with Gehry and the Bilbao

4:52:55 pm - Fri 1 Mar

We’re being taken through various eras of art and typography and culture expressed in mediums considered ‘irreverent’ for the times – from the Bauhaus to Elvis. Irreverence is challenging, which in turn inspires change and creativity and the new

4:45:57 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: Michelangelo was the ultimate art director: he disagreed with the client, he was late, and he came in over budget.

Fantastic!

4:44:38 pm - Fri 1 Mar

A little bit of blasphemous humour – he’s just looked up for the lightning bolt.

4:42:46 pm - Fri 1 Mar

He’s giving us the dictionary definition of irreverence, and says that the phrase sums him up completely: cheeky, disrespectful, a complete lack of respect for the establishment…

4:40:22 pm - Fri 1 Mar

One of his fundamental influences has always been irreverence.

4:39:43 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: I don’t want you to think “Jesus Christ”, I need to go out there and get a creative philosophy. Hit Google! (Audience laughter).

4:38:30 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John: Creativity can be defined as an expression of self.

4:37:42 pm - Fri 1 Mar

John has constructed his talk around his creative philosophy. John: I don’t believe you can be a successful creator unless you have fundamental beliefs and feed those into your works. Your creative beliefs are fundamental to your success.

4:36:15 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Oh lord, it’s Mick Jagger meets Bill Nighy! Fabulous.

4:33:53 pm - Fri 1 Mar

We’re here. The last talk of the final day of the Design Indaba. We’re in the presence of advertising legend Sir John Hegarty so the conference is, appropriately, going out with a bang.

Sir John Hegarty is a creative and founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty advertising. n the first two decades of BBH’s history, Hegarty was responsible for ground breaking campaigns for Levi’s. The now-famous phrase “Vorsprung Durch Technik” for Audi was coined by Hegarty and continues to be widely recognised. BBH now has offices in London, New York, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles Shanghai and Mumbai with Hegarty overseeing the creative output of all these offices. Hegarty has won Gold at every industry awards including D&AD, Cannes and British Television. He has been awarded the D&AD President’s Award for outstanding achievement and was admitted to the US One Show Advertising Hall of Fame. He has also been voted as one of the most influential people in fashion, thanks to his work with Levi’s. In 2007 Hegarty was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to the advertising and creative industries. In June 2011, he launched his book Hegarty on Advertising – Turning Intelligence into Magic. In the same month, Hegarty was honoured for his creativity at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, being the first recipient of the inaugural Lion of St Mark’s Award.

4:14:22 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Final blog coming up in about 15 minutes – advertising guru Sir John Hegarty will close this year’s Indaba. There should be some good sound bytes so come back.

4:03:25 pm - Fri 1 Mar

A standing ovation for Adjaye.

4:02:45 pm - Fri 1 Mar

We have just seen a slide show of interior and exterior projections for the various spaces, ending in a space dedicated to Martin Luther King. Adjaye’s vision is extraordinary and emotive, extremely moving.

3:59:19 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Work is underway on the project and the site has been determined – it is where a slave market used to be. From Adjaye Associates website:  ’Physical references to America’s extensive and rich African heritage are made throughout the design; topping the entry-level porch are two superstructures, shaped liked crowns that are inspired by an African headdress’.

3:54:29 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Adjaye: We had to make a new kind of architecture for this museum.

3:53:38 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The final project being discussed is the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Culture and History (NMAACH).

3:52:43 pm - Fri 1 Mar

3:51:54 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The cantilevered structure is concrete and entirely clad in glass. White marble is the main material in the public spaces. There is also an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

3:49:09 pm - Fri 1 Mar

3:44:38 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The Moscow School of Management is being discussed. It is the first management institution on a scale of Harvard Business School and the likes.

3:40:05 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. Gallery spaces have been designed with specific media in mind.

3:32:13 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Sorry, tech issues. We’re back.

We’re onto Public Projects.

3:22:43 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Despite its modernity, a few original foundations and walls have been retained and ‘framed’ as design features.

3:22:02 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The house was designed for an art collector and unfolds as a spatially complex series of interlocking spaces. The entrance is a gallery space – and you can literally drive a truck into the front door (to accommodate larger pieces of art being taken inside).

3:19:38 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Across the pond to New York. A fabulous carriage-house squashed between to two tall buildings.

3:18:40 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Adjaye created a live-work space for an artist. No interior materials other than glass and white concrete screed.

3:16:19 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Next project: Dirty House. The second house David ever made. It is located in the East End, a place heavy on industrial live-work spaces.

3:14:16 pm - Fri 1 Mar

There is a secret roof terrace for the couple to escape the heat in summer… and their children for a few moments.

3:13:17 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Architecture that expresses a humanity is important to Adjaye.

3:12:05 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The audience is being shown a private residential commission, The Sunken House.

3:11:17 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The ‘New Geographic’ map of Africa

3:09:51 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Adjaye is speaking about his journey that took place over 11 years documenting the architecture of Africa. According to Adjaye, the political map of Africa is the one that we have in our minds, but there is a ‘New Geographic’ map of Africa. Geography, culture and place are so inextricably linked. The Magreb; the Desert; The Sahel; The Forest; the Savanna and Grasslands, for example. Patterns can be seen, architecture that is connected by terrain, rather than geography.

3:00:57 pm - Fri 1 Mar

Adjaye Associates is dedicated to extensive research; experiments in product (furniture to emotive environments); the evolution of residential typologies; and public buildings.

2:59:00 pm - Fri 1 Mar

The Indaba is coming to a close, two speakers to go. Architect David Adjaye is coming up. Adjaye is the principal architect of Adjaye Associates, a global practice established in 2000. The firm has won a number of prestigious commissions, the biggest and most recent being the £160-million Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO.  Adjaye’s projects currently include the 0-million commission to redesign the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Culture and History (NMAACH). Adjaye often collaborates with important contemporary artists and curators to create unique spaces for art. He was awarded the OBE for services to architecture in 2007 and currently holds a visiting professor post at Princeton University School of Architecture. He is a RIBA Chartered Member, an AIA Honorary Fellow, a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Since 2005 he has published numerous books on architecture and has also exhibited widely.  Over the course of 10 years, Adjaye has travelled and photographed each African capital city, which culminated in Urban Africa: David Adjaye’s Photographic Survey, a unique geo-cultural catalogue profiling the African city in a global context. Adjaye has co-presented and hosted a number of television series and radio programmes for the BBC. A documentary of his career so far is currently being planned.

9:58:27 am - Fri 1 Mar

That was mind expanding. Further reading, if you’re interested, is at http://www.syntheticaesthetics.org.

See you this afternoon at 2.30 for architect David Adjaye.

9:53:42 am - Fri 1 Mar

There’s a world of division that is seen between design and art with that of science, technology, engineering and math. Science and the humanities are both inherently creative – we should see a real value to opening up that divide.

9:49:16 am - Fri 1 Mar

Daisy: We need to use design to open up new areas of thought. We need to ask better questions rather than just solving problems. By asking better questions, we will have problems to solve that are better.

9:47:59 am - Fri 1 Mar

Food designers and scientists have collaborated to make cheese out of human bacteria. The future is here, and it stinks!

Daisy on the importance of bacteria: We are what we eat. But maybe, in a Synthetic Biology future, maybe we eat what we are.

9:45:29 am - Fri 1 Mar

Workshops between designers and scientists have been important in investigating the future of Synthetic Aesthetics

9:34:43 am - Fri 1 Mar

Here we go: http://vimeo.com/19759432

9:33:11 am - Fri 1 Mar

We’re being shown a video about the E.Chromi project. I’ll try to find a link.

9:31:28 am - Fri 1 Mar

The theory so far is by and large a fiction, but it’s a really useful fiction

9:30:05 am - Fri 1 Mar

The impact of Synthetic Biology is going to be cultural, political, economic…

9:25:55 am - Fri 1 Mar

We should be looking at how to apply Synthetic Biology to solve problems – alternatives to fuel, for example.

9:24:52 am - Fri 1 Mar

Daisy: Biology and life with it is becoming a 21st century material for design. Is synthetic biology a design discipline of the future? Maybe.

9:22:55 am - Fri 1 Mar

Daisy: Four months after I graduated as an architect I lost interest and started being interested in things like bacteria grown in jelly.

As one does.

9:21:19 am - Fri 1 Mar

Daisy: We keep repeating mistakes over and over again with design. We need to do more than just problem-solving with design. We need to make things better

9:19:54 am - Fri 1 Mar

Daisy is showing wasteful everyday items – plastic bags, bottled water, the energy-saving lightbulb are all examples of how engineering and design can take a problem and solve it, but give us bigger problems in the long term

9:16:25 am - Fri 1 Mar

It seems Daisy was raised, or spent part of her youth, in South Africa.

9:15:14 am - Fri 1 Mar

A few empty seats. Good party last night, apparently.

9:11:57 am - Fri 1 Mar

Good morning. It’s the final day of the Design Indaba Conference and in a few minutes Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg – or Daisy to her friends and colleagues – will begin with a talk that should be utterly captivating. Daisy is an artist, designer and writer investigating futures for design. She studied architecture at the University of Cambridge, design at Harvard University and MA Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art, London. Working in unfamiliar spaces like synthetic biology, Ginsberg explores the implications of emerging technologies, seeking potential new roles for design within developing technologies. As Design Fellow on Synthetic Aesthetics, a project between Stanford University and the University of Edinburgh, Ginsberg has curated an international programme on synthetic biology, art and design since 2010, questioning how we might ‘design nature’. The project will be published by MIT Press in 2014. I’m hoping that she also speaks about her E. chromi project, a collaboration with an undergraduate team from Cambridge University that explored the following question: ‘What if bacteria could be used as a tool for detecting harmful elements in the environment for both humans and animals?’.

5:00:57 pm - Thu 28 Feb

One last word from Daan: The role of the designer and of creativity is needed more than ever.

And that’s a wrap. See you back here tomorrow.

4:59:11 pm - Thu 28 Feb

A standing ovation for Daan. He is amused!

4:58:35 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan: Reality is beautiful. But, we should be willing to go out there, to hack it, to engage ourselves in new types of making and imagination

4:56:22 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan: There should be a little bit Orwell with a little bit Da Vinci in every designer.

4:54:11 pm - Thu 28 Feb

A project for a Smart Highway that is in prototype stage in the Netherlands that will do away with street lights for a more sustainable road system: paints used for road-markings that glow in the dark and power up doing the day, for example. And graphics that change in colour based on temperature, indicating where the slippery spots on the road might be.

http://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smart-highway/

4:48:46 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Now we’re being shown a sustainable dance floor – where the kinetic movements of the dancers convert to electricity which makes the floor react (flashing lights Saturday Night Fever style) as well as powering other applications such as the DJ booth.

4:44:57 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan has just shown us a project initiated by the city of a Lyon, France, to ‘update’ some of its more historic buildings without physically altering their architecture or interiors. LOTUS 7.0 is a living wall composed of smart foils that fold open in response to human behavior. Walking past LOTUS, hundreds of aluminum foils unfold themselves in an organic way, the light highlighting areas of the building and details that one might have overlooked before.

4:39:36 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan is showing a beautiful series of images featuring LED lights that have been encased in crystals that grow around them. Biological engineering.

4:37:54 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan: Sharing information is part of our new economy.

4:37:33 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan says he is working on a new version for bankers that become transparent when you lie! Laughter and applause.

4:35:06 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan is showing images of the Intimacy 2.0 garments that turn more or less transparent in response to the wearer’s heartbeat. Intimacy 2.0 is made with leather and smart opaque e-foils that become increasingly transparent based on close and personal encounters with other people.Something of a sensual play, the garments basically respond to your elevated pulses by going transparent around the neckline.
Don’t wear this while you’re reading 50 Shades of Grey!

4:34:00 pm - Thu 28 Feb

DUNE was placed in a nondescript public tunnel – the reaction of the pedestrians who encountered it is pure delight.  Check out the video here:  http://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/dune/

4:32:08 pm - Thu 28 Feb

He is showing a video of his DUNE project – a public interactive landscape that interacts with human behavior. This hybrid of nature and technology is composed of large amounts of fibers that brighten according to the sounds and motion of passing visitors.

4:29:19 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan: I am a hippie with a business plan. * Laughter

4:28:57 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan: Technology has become our second skin.

4:27:57 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Daan is going to speak about the future of design – he is a believer in techno-poetry: where the world of innovation is merged with that of the imagination.

4:24:55 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Day two of the Design Indaba conference is about to wrap with a talk by Daan Roosegaarde – an artist and innovator interested in exploring the dawn of a ‘new nature’ evolving from technological innovations. Studio Roosegaarde is his design lab based in both Rotterdam and Shanghai, employing a team of designers and engineers. Roosegaarde has won the Dutch Design Award, Design for Asia Award and China’s Most Successful Design Award. He has been the focus of exhibitions at the Tate Modern, the National Museum in Tokyo, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and various public spaces in Rotterdam and Hong Kong.

2:46:26 pm - Thu 28 Feb

It might take a while for the audience to come out of our collective trance. See you back here around 4.10pm for the last speaker of today, Daan Roosegaarde.

2:43:26 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Incredible. I don’t think that anyone inhaled for the duration of the performance.

2:41:41 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Nicholas and the musicians have just left the stage. Lots of applause. Lights going up. Still applause. Oh, hang on, standing ovations.

2:40:35 pm - Thu 28 Feb

The stitch is important in his work – a metaphorical and literal stitching together, a rebuilding, of our ripped apart country.

2:36:22 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Hlobo: My work is very sexually charged.

2:36:03 pm - Thu 28 Feb

We are seeing images of the mythical Impundulu creature that he has interpreted in his work.

2:34:22 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Hlobo: I find Joburg a very inspiring city. It is why I stay there. Without Joburg, South Africa would be very different. And it’s not beautiful, so you really need to look to find the beauty.’

2:33:29 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Hlobo has emerged from the ‘cocoon’ gourd. It’s him who is doing the singing/chanting.

2:32:29 pm - Thu 28 Feb

It seems Hlobo had a complicated relationship with his mother. Much confusion about his culture. Conflict. The archetypal tortured artist?

2:29:35 pm - Thu 28 Feb

In the video we are being shown a piece of performance art by Hlobo in which he is suspended from the ceiling by a bed/hammock hybrid – a work that for him brings to mind memories of his brother

2:27:37 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Hlobo: ‘When I was a child I was an artist, even before I knew what an artist was. I was the one who would always ask to draw on the chalkboard, cats and pumpkins. Then it became more serious’.

2:26:30 pm - Thu 28 Feb

The text on screen is clearly taking the place of a live narrative. Hlobo: ‘I write and sketch with art’

2:25:33 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Haunting music, a gourd-shaped cocoon (white) has slowly descended onto the stage.

2:24:31 pm - Thu 28 Feb

A video is being shown, no audio, just subtitled text, Hlobo’s stream of consciousness. We see young Xhosa initiates, text describing the attitude towards these young men in society: ‘they are treated like dogs, basically’.

2:22:16 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Seems like we’re in for some performance art. Hlobo is being accompanied on stage by two jazz musicians, the auditorium is dark, just a voice singing.

2:20:48 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Hello again. We’re back after an extended lunch break during which the Design Indaba Expo was officially opened. I managed a whirlwind look-see, but if you’re in Cape Town this weekend it’s worth a visit. http://www.designindaba.com/events/design-indaba-expo-2013

Now for Nicholas Hlobo; a South African artist fast gaining an international reputation for his experimental use of materials. Hlobo is a Johannesburg-based artist. Born in Cape Town in 1975, Hlobo has a B Tech degree from the Wits Technikon, Johannesburg (2002). Designing sculptures which tend to provoke due to their structural illusions, Nicholas Hlobo has gained international recognition and a firm following. Working with a variety of materials, using rubber and ribbon as the main component, Hlobo creates truly unique and eye-catching pieces, which have led him to win many awards and exhibit at numerous exhibitions worldwide. Hlobo has had solo exhibitions at the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo (2011), in the Level 2 Gallery at Tate Modern, London (2008), and at the Boston ICA as part of theMomentum series (2008), among other institutions.

12:26:09 pm - Thu 28 Feb

This was the highlight of the conference so far. Alex’s new cookbook is launching now in the foyer. I’m off!

See you back here at 1.50 for Nicholas Hlobo.

12:24:50 pm - Thu 28 Feb

The woman next to me and I have tears. The word inspiring is so overused, but here, there’s nothing else to say.

12:24:03 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Alex: This is a dish of ants with pineapple, lightly frozen. I didn’t do anything here. God is the chef. We must respect.

Audience is going crazy!

12:21:50 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Alex: Our relationship with food must be reviewed. We need to use the entire animal. This is respect.

The audience applauds.

12:20:40 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Alex: We throw away lots of good food. Less than 1% of a whole cattle goes to the restaurant.

12:19:33 pm - Thu 28 Feb

It’s all about cultural norms, perceptions.
Alex: Sometimes to be creatives, you must put your first concepts away.

12:17:54 pm - Thu 28 Feb

We’re moving onto insects as a food source. Local Amazonian ants that taste like lemongrass.

12:17:10 pm - Thu 28 Feb

A depressing clip of the rainforest being destroyed, deforestation, fire… A subject close to his heart, of course.

12:15:47 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Watching the ‘making of’ videos of the creation of a various dishes is a real ‘wish you were here moment’. We’ll check later if there are any links to view them. It’s food porn deluxe, that’s all I’m saying.

12:13:20 pm - Thu 28 Feb

A green papaya dessert with green papaya, frozen Amazonian fruit, served with frozen yoghurt powder. A completely (and deliberately) colourless dish. Beautiful.

12:11:06 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Alex: Sometimes creativity is two steps forward, one behind.

12:08:35 pm - Thu 28 Feb

More food videos, showing some of the dishes at D.O.M. Manically exciting. This particular dish uses manioc (cassava), highly poisonous if not cooked correctly. The audience laughs… nervously.

12:05:35 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Another video: inspired by and designed to represent and impart the ‘flavour and fragrance’ of the burning of the Amazon rainforest.

Never mind Protest Art, this is Protest Food!

12:03:39 pm - Thu 28 Feb

His restaurant, D.O.M, only does tasting menus. A video is being screened about secondary flavours and being playful. For example, one gets three glasses of water with your meal, each differently flavoured.  All designed to evoke a sensation and sense of surprise.

12:01:03 pm - Thu 28 Feb

Alex is relating a story about the duality of interpretation: how, when his sons come home from soccer practice and take off their shoes, it’s the most vile smell. But it brings to mind (and nose) the cheese that he uses in his restaurants. Sensory associations, depending on the context, can be incredible or ‘fucking disgusting’.

11:57:47 am - Thu 28 Feb

Alex: Take the BBQ flavour and scent – it is one of the oldest most primitive associations we have. It is the human key. Something that links us all. Even vegetarians!

11:56:04 am - Thu 28 Feb

Alex: Old ideas can be more intelligent, exciting and modern than new ideas.

11:54:16 am - Thu 28 Feb

Alex: Creativity for a chef is not to do something that no one has  done before. It’s to do something really surprising. There is a difference

11:51:56 am - Thu 28 Feb

Up on stage with him is acclaimed South African chef Margot Janse to ‘help him with his English’. Sounds perfectly articulate to me.

11:50:30 am - Thu 28 Feb

Aw bless. He’s nervous!

11:48:59 am - Thu 28 Feb

We’re back. The delegates are all fuelled up, both by the coffee and pastries as well as three morning sessions that have been visually stimulating, entertaining and though-provoking. Alex Atala is about to talk. Here’s his bio:

Atala is an acclaimed Brazilian chef whose work is concerned with traditional food using native ingredients. His Sao Paolo restaurant, D.O.M., opened in 1999, is much lauded for changing the history of modern Brazilian cuisine. For the past seven years D.O.M. has been listed in the top 50 of the world’s best restaurants by the U.K. based Restaurantmagazine. In January 2009, he opened a second restaurant, Dalva e Dito, focusing on Brazilian heritage dishes based on home recipes. Atala is a champion of local ingredients like acai, pupunha and cupuacu. His ambition is to promote Brazilian produce on an international scale with the hopes that, given time and the development of sustainable farming strategies, palm hearts and acai berries become as commonplace as pasta or blueberries in store cupboards throughout the world.  Atala has also worked with scientists and anthropologists to discover and classify foods and document new products from the Amazon region, with minimum impact on both forest and people.

11:45:03 am - Thu 28 Feb

Hi from the second day of the Design Indaba conference. If you’re here for the live blog to read about chef Alex Atala, things are running a little late. Time to make a quick cuppa or watch that (short) YouTube video. See you in two.

5:37:07 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John’s wrapping up by saying that designers can always be trusted to do the right thing. Lots of applause, and we’re out of here until tomorrow. The crowd will be heading to the Design Inda-bar for a few drinks and some serious tunage to kick off the Design Indaba Music Circuit.

5:34:34 pm - Wed 27 Feb

The talk has ended to enthusiastic applause.

5:33:08 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Organisations have evolved into organisms. A metaphorical way to imagine it is that we cannot approach organisations as the pyramid structure anymore; they are more like an octopus. Its eight tentacles have the ability to do things on their own; they don’t have to ask the brain for permission.

5:26:52 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John is discussing the challenges of leadership. Ironically, with more connectivity, we are less connected on a human level

5:21:59 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Design and designers, in the context of advancing technology, is essential. Art education needs to be pushed into innovation. It begins with acknowledgment and support from government.

5:15:34 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John: A traditional leader wants to be right. A creative leader is optimistic. They hope to be right.

5:14:38 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John: Creative leadership loves to learn from mistakes. A traditional leader loves to avoid mistakes.

5:13:43 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John: Things have become more chaotic because of the reduction of the hierarchy. We’ve become a heterarchy.

5:12:03 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John is discussing various forms of leadership. ‘There’s an easy way to lead, he says. ‘It’s called being a dictator’. But John says his ultimate ‘Sex and the City’ question is ‘how do creative people lead?’. He’s discussing another influential book in his life: Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon Mackenzie.

5:08:04 pm - Wed 27 Feb

More laughs: John feels ‘tied’ to Barack Obama as he became president of the Rhode Island School of Design at the same time as Barack Obama became president of the USA.

5:07:01 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Funny guy, this John: ‘A few years ago I was a tenured professor. Basically a professor who doesn’t have to work anymore!’

5:06:02 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Another book he recommends: John Gardiner, On Leadership

5:05:05 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Two tomes that influenced John in his early years: Lisp Machine Manual and the Bauhaus

5:02:52 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John is discussing his book, Design By Numbers, an introduction to how programming works. ‘Programming is not very complicated. It’s just very boring’.

5:01:37 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Funny anecdotes about Paul Rand. Paul’s response to a question of John’s in the mid-90s as to what is bad design? ‘A bad design is superficial, pretentious. Basically like all the design you see out there today!’

4:57:30 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John is speaking about the designer who created the IBM logo, Paul Rand, reminiscing about his human, soft side.

4:53:36 pm - Wed 27 Feb

John: You have to have a mix of the serious and the jackass to synthesize true culture.

4:52:57 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Ha! John has just said that to follow dancing sperm is really hard. Someone needs to put that on a t-shirt.

4:50:23 pm - Wed 27 Feb

And there is the beauty of the Design Indaba… That you can segue from a music video featuring dancing sperm (presented by creative director Masashi Kawamura) to the last speaker on the programme, John Maeda. In all it’s been great first day at the conference. Perhaps a little less rock ‘n roll than a couple of previous opening days that I recall, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

So back to John Maeda, president of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. As an artist, graphic designer, computer scientist and educator, Maeda was named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire and has been dubbed the ‘Steve Jobs of academia’ by Forbes magazine. His work is focusses on integrating technology, design and leadership into a 21st -century synthesis of creativity and innovation. His Twitter feed, @johnmaeda, was recognised as one of TIME Magazine’s 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011.

4:37:31 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Running a little late at Design Indaba. Hold tight for some insight from John Maeda, the last speaker of the day

2:29:33 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Oscar done. That was quick! Would loved to have heard more about the Tube Toys range and seen the finished products from the 10×10 project. I guess that’s what Google is for.  See you at 4.15 for John Maeda.

2:24:13 pm - Wed 27 Feb

His work pushes the boundaries of merging traditional and modern technology

2:23:13 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Another collaborative conceptual project, for an airliner: the shapes of knives, forks and spoons were cut out of plastic bottles, coated in copper, then again in tin to make them resistant to wear & tear and food acidity. Beautiful.

2:15:41 pm - Wed 27 Feb

He spent two months visiting  the store for objects for the project – to the point that certain customers thought he worked there and used to ask him where they could find specific things

2:12:51 pm - Wed 27 Feb

We’re being shown a photograph of the inside of the discount store where Oscar was sourcing a cheap object to redesign. One mother of an ugly plastic lemon squeezer…

2:11:31 pm - Wed 27 Feb

He visited a one Pound shop in his London neighborhood to find everyday objects to incorporate into the project. Oscar: ‘I like the simplification of a transaction for an object that costs one Pound’.

2:09:20 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Now Oscar is speaking about another project: 10×10 – ten objects in ten days

2:08:21 pm - Wed 27 Feb

The material (the paper) is like a sponge, collecting the ink and dispersing it to ‘colour’ the numbers, words or imagery, almost bringing the paper to life

2:07:21 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Oscar Diaz’s tube toys, which incorporate the packaging into the product.

2:04:57 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Oscar is relating his work on a calendar for an exhibition using paper and ink that react to the temperature outside. Colour reacts to the changes in the barometer, representing a more physical manifestation of the progression of time

2:00:29 pm - Wed 27 Feb

Apologies for the delay. Wretched wi-fi! But Oscar is on stage. He’s just starting speaking about a project involving sugar cubes…

1:46:02 pm - Wed 27 Feb

We’re back. And running a bit late, but not by much. Decks are currently being spun onstage as the post-lunch audience streams into the auditorium. Next up is Oscar Diaz. Here’s the lowdown:
Oscar Diaz is a product designer interested in understanding, exploring and questioning objects. Diaz studied art in Spain and design at the Ecole de Beaux Arts de Bordeaux in France. After working for designer Matali Crasset in Paris, he enrolled in the Design Products MA at the Royal College of Art in London, under the direction of Ron Arad. In addition he worked briefly in Japan, designing furniture, before returning to London to establish his own practice in 2007. Plain and playful, Diaz’s objects draw inspiration from the everyday things, which by a simple twist become something unexpected. Diaz’s clients include MUJI, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Terra Plana, Veuve Clicquot and Phillips de Pury. Displaying a playful edge often seen in his work, Diaz’s Tube Toys range uses the packaging as an integral part of assembling the toys and was inspired by the phenomenon of children being as intrigued by the packaging of their toys as the toy itself.

10:08:34 am - Wed 27 Feb

See you back here at 1.30pm for the presentation by Oscar Diaz.

10:06:47 am - Wed 27 Feb

A question for Paula from the audience: ‘What happens if you just are faced with a situation and are drawing a blank?’
Paula: ‘Usually if I’m drawing a blank it’s because I’ve done the job a million times before. Or I’ve just got up and don’t have a brain in my head that day. And let’s be honest, we all have those days. And sometimes they go on for six months! But the real killer for me is repetition… Where I know what the client wants, what they’re going to say.’ According to Paula, the great work comes when the challenges are so great and one is so out of your comfort zone that the solution requires a real breakthrough. Discomfort can result in great inspiration, it would seem.

Paula has just finished. Good start to the Indaba.

10:01:11 am - Wed 27 Feb

The furniture is customized with type, signage has been punched-out into the walls, the donors wall is a series of elevated ‘bricks’ rather than a typical plaque.
Paula: It’s type city in there!

9:59:43 am - Wed 27 Feb

A project close to Paula’s heart is redesigning the identity for The Public – a theatre in New York. She has redesigned it three times already, although each time has been so subtle that no-on really notices

9:57:27 am - Wed 27 Feb

A current project is designing signage for a subway system for Tel Aviv. Creating 3 dimensional structures that can be used in a variety of ways – to show information, as seating, for shelter…

9:54:18 am - Wed 27 Feb

Paula is describing how she designed the new Windows 8 logo for Microsoft.

9:50:28 am - Wed 27 Feb

Maps as murals. (Paula Scher)

9:46:41 am - Wed 27 Feb

Paula is showing an incredible mural for a public school in Queens of maps, painted onto massive tiles and installed on several feature walls and in public areas such as hallways and stairwells. How inspiring for students to be surrounded by art at every turn

9:41:09 am - Wed 27 Feb

Images showing the use of type on buildings (public schools) as a creative and more affordable design solution

9:40:14 am - Wed 27 Feb

Paula is showing images of a small, run-down building for the arts in New Jersey that she was asked to consult on. No budget to renovate led to a Photoshop job that was rendered onto the building exactly as it looked digitally. It has never had any graffiti sprayed on it – unlike many of the surrounding buildings

9:37:53 am - Wed 27 Feb

Paula: Creativity is a small defiant act of misbehaving.

9:36:33 am - Wed 27 Feb

Paula is live! Says D.I is her favourite conference of all of them.

9:35:59 am - Wed 27 Feb

Paula about to take the stage. If you’re interested and have some time later, you can check out videos of some of her other talks at design conferences around the world on www.designindaba.com

9:33:32 am - Wed 27 Feb

The line-up being introduced. We can look forward to speakers from all ages and disciplines. Quite literally from a teenager to an octogenarian.

9:27:42 am - Wed 27 Feb

Interesting: the Design Indaba is being live broadcast to four venues across SA: Joburg, PE, Durban and Cape Town. Pretty cool – spreading the creative love.

9:19:59 am - Wed 27 Feb

The MC’s are introducing the event at the moment.

9:16:23 am - Wed 27 Feb

Good morning from the Cape Town International Convention Centre. We’re blogging from the Design Indaba Conference. While we wait for things to kick off, a little bit about the first speaker of the day: Paula Scher.

Scher studied at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and began her graphic design career as an art director at Atlantic and CBS Records in the 1970s. In 1984 she co-founded Koppel & Scher, and in 1991 she joined Pentagram Design as a partner. She is a member of the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame and won the prestigious Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design in 2000. Scher has developed identity and branding systems, promotional materials, environmental graphics, packaging and publications for a wide range of clients, creating images that speak to contemporary audiences with emotional impact and appeal.

Okay, here we go…

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Oscar Pistorius’s bail hearing

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Mail & Guardian

South Africa’s Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius, commonly known as the “Blade Runner”, was arrested after his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead at his home in Pretoria.
It’s day four of the bail application. The prosecution will voice their closing argument and the magistrate will hopefully take a decision.

Follow the M&G’s liveblog for all the latest developments.

4:41:05 pm - Fri 22 Feb

Oscar Pistorius granted bail – Full story.

4:34:12 pm - Fri 22 Feb

2:40:51 pm - Fri 22 Feb

The ruling is about to begin…

2:21:13 pm - Fri 22 Feb

Listen to the ruling live, via EWN

2:18:57 pm - Fri 22 Feb

It’s almost time for the ruling.

1:19:53 pm - Fri 22 Feb

1:04:14 pm - Fri 22 Feb

Full story: Pistorius bail hearing closes, verdict due at 2.30pm

12:27:28 pm - Fri 22 Feb

Side reading: Ten things about guns in South Africa

12:06:00 pm - Fri 22 Feb

12:04:58 pm - Fri 22 Feb

Ruling is expected to be announced at 2pm this afternoon.

12:02:01 pm - Fri 22 Feb

Roux corrects his previous statement by stating that the prosthesis don’t need maintenance on a monthly basis, but often.

With that, the defence closes it’s response and both sides await the magistrate’s ruling.

12:01:06 pm - Fri 22 Feb

11:59:15 am - Fri 22 Feb

Roux is now addressing the flight risk issue as posed by the prosecution. He draws attention once again to the fact that it would be difficult and unlikely because of his well known face and celebrity status. He also mentions that Oscar’s prosthesis need maintenance.

11:54:21 am - Fri 22 Feb

The defence address some of the statements brought forward by Nel.
Roux suggests that the guns and cellphones were found on the bathroom floor as a result of Oscar entering with them and placing them there after he realised it was Reeva and found her.

11:51:02 am - Fri 22 Feb

As proceedings continue, the defence tries to illustrate that the charge should be culpable homicide. Roux: By Oscar’s own testimony, this is what he should be tried for.

11:43:35 am - Fri 22 Feb

To sum up:
The prosecution is arguing that Pistorius should have testified.
Nel: He was in possession of unlicensed ammunition regardless of whether it was his dad’s or not.
Nel: Oscar says Reeva slept on the right hand side of her bed but her bad and slippers were on the left
Nel: Nothing is stopping Oscar from fleeing and just carrying on with his life as usual, Julian Assange is the perfect example of this.
Nel: His disability should not excuse him
Nel: Pistorius planned murder that night, not necessarily weeks in advance.
Nel: Reeva sought shelterin the bathroom because Oscar was armed
Nel: President Zuma raised the issue of violence against women in his SONA address, this issue needs to be given attention.

11:36:57 am - Fri 22 Feb

3D walkthrough of Oscar Pistorius’s bedroom and bathroom [Video by Bruce Hong]

11:30:37 am - Fri 22 Feb

Reading for the break : Pistorius hopes to secure bail on fourth day of hearing.

11:28:52 am - Fri 22 Feb

The court is on a break now, when processions commence, Roux will have a chance to respond to the prosecution. The magistrate at this point seems slightly unconvinced about the argument that Oscar may be a flight risk. There have also been arguments surrounding his disability.

10:43:56 am - Fri 22 Feb

Nel is now questioning why Oscar didn’t look for Reeva. It doesn’t make sense to him, he says. How would Oscar just know that it was her that he shot? ( he references the affidavit here where Oscar mentions that he realized it was her).

10:34:27 am - Fri 22 Feb

The prosecution now addresses the defenses argument that Oscar was crying at the scene.

#OscarPistorius Nel: he cried when he was found… I shot this woman and now my career is gone, I can’t travel, I feel sorry for myself. – Barry Bateman

10:27:43 am - Fri 22 Feb

#OscarPistorius Nel: She didn’t say anything, not a word. The only reasonable thing would be ‘Oscar where are you, what’s going on’. – Mandy Weiner

Nel is once again pointing out the holes in Oscar’s affidavit, trying to convince the magistrate that no confession was made, it seems as though he may be pushing for one.

10:20:55 am - Fri 22 Feb

So far, Nel has tucked into the proceedings by once again bringing the magistrate’s attention to the fact that Oscar did not elect to put himself on the stand and testify.

10:11:48 am - Fri 22 Feb

Day four of court proceedings is about to begin. It’s rumored that the prosecution won’t take long with their closing argument today.

4:11:03 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Again, Nel raises the issue of Oscar’s affidavit, and the state winds up the arguments for the day by stating that Oscar never offered himself up for cross-examination, thus, his version of events cannot be questioned by the prosecution on the stand.

That brings us to the end of today. Still no verdict on the bail application and court is adjourned until 10am tomorrow morning.

4:04:58 pm - Thu 21 Feb

4:02:32 pm - Thu 21 Feb

He now turns the argument toward the testimony of the witnesses as brought forward by the defence…

4:01:23 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Gerrie Nel illustrates how even in Oscar’s own version, the result is still murder. He recounts the amount of shots fired and amplifies his statement by saying you only shoot four times when the intent is to kill.

3:51:58 pm - Thu 21 Feb

3:51:15 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Nel is now starting to question the legitimacy of the affidavit word for word, even going to the extent of re-enacting Oscar’s description of events. How could he not have noticed whether she was in the bed or not if he had to pass her twice?, he asks.

3:45:06 pm - Thu 21 Feb

3:44:42 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Nel tears into Oscar’s affidavit at this stage, saying that it lacks responsibility on his part.

3:30:26 pm - Thu 21 Feb

3:29:37 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is now posing that the location of the gun and cellphone are incongruent with Oscar’s version of the story. How did they land up in the bathroom he questions.

3:24:01 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Gerrie Nel is up for the prosecution…

3:09:47 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The prosecution argues against bail next…

3:08:30 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The argument has now turned to community reaction and social response. Nair wants to know if the public won’t be outraged at the release of Pistorius…

3:05:27 pm - Thu 21 Feb

As the defence continues, the magistrate makes reference to the Tasha’s incident where the gun went off as well as the threat incident …

2:58:53 pm - Thu 21 Feb

View from a fish eye lens Court C [Picture by Aki Anastasiou, EWN, Twitter]

2:54:23 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Read the article
The latest in court proceedings so far

2:52:36 pm - Thu 21 Feb

After a frantic rush by photographers to see exactly what the threat was, it is still unclear, court is in session again.

2:47:31 pm - Thu 21 Feb

In the midst of what seemed like Roux’s final statements regarding the bail application, magistrate Nair has adjourned the court because of a “threat” outside.

2:33:44 pm - Thu 21 Feb

2:32:12 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The Sarie article used as a reference in court earlier
Ons superster Oscar: “Roem nie altyd great’
Deur Charis Labuschagne, SARIE Februarie 2013

2:24:41 pm - Thu 21 Feb

And now, in defence of the argument that Oscar poses a flight risk:

2:14:56 pm - Thu 21 Feb

A lot of engagement from the magistrate in this portion of the proceedings. He wants to know crucial things and he’s sourcing information from the defence, looking for clarity: Could Reeva’s bladder have emptied as a result of the trauma (who’s to say she went to the toilet for this purpose), he also would like to know whether she could have responded when Oscar shouted at the intruder? Roux defends this statement and says she probably didn’t want to put herself in danger. Roux further admits that this case has a lot of possibilities but that the court needs to focus on probabilities.

2:00:12 pm - Thu 21 Feb

1:57:49 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The defence is starting to drive their argument home now. Going through the points alleged by the state and pointing out the lack of evidence to strengthen the bail application.

1:48:21 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Court is in session again…

1:44:21 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Side reading:

1:34:07 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Side reading:

1:16:59 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Outside the court, the media waits for Hilton Botha to exit. [Picture by Mandy Weiner, EWN]

1:05:35 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The court has adjourned for lunch, the defence will continue after the break and then the prosecution will present its own closing argument.

1:02:37 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Meanwhile the defence holds firm to its argument: If the state wants to prove that Oscar planned the murder of Reeva, then they need to take steps to do so because nothing thus far is aligned with those allegations. All the testimony which has presented so far has corroborated Osacr’s version of the story according to the defence.

12:59:32 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The case of Hilton Botha.
Hilton Botha was called back into court to continue his testimony on the second day of Oscar Pistrorius’s bail hearing.

12:52:17 pm - Thu 21 Feb

12:50:59 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The defence is revisiting the affidavits in their arguments for the bail application and consistently making reference to the fact that none of the forensic evidence at this stage contradicts any of the affidavits presented in court and that Botha himself corroborated a lot of it.

12:40:27 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Now Oscar’s defence – Barry Roux – will begin his argument…

12:39:04 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Botha has been thanked and excused by the magistrate. He steps down.

12:37:05 pm - Thu 21 Feb

There are now allegations by Nel that Oscar Pistorius does in fact own a house in Italy. He refers to a Sarie magazine article where it’s mentioned. This was brought to his attention by Botha, who called Nel about the article last night.

12:27:12 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Nair is revisiting some topics from Botha’s testimony yesterday. Seems to be pushing for some answers.

12:25:52 pm - Thu 21 Feb

12:24:07 pm - Thu 21 Feb

The magistrate is questioning Botha again because he is unhappy about the lack of clarity and evidence. He asks Botha if he would like to answer in Afrikaans in order to communicate better, Botha says he will continue in english.

12:17:51 pm - Thu 21 Feb

Seems like the proceedings are about to get going again…

12:06:27 pm - Thu 21 Feb

While we wait, a pic of the motion the unknown woman wanted to bring – According to Mandy Weiner of EWN, she has since been identified as the the alleged “ex-wife of Pistorius’ orthopedic surgeon”.

[Picture by Mandy Weiner, EWN]

11:40:45 am - Thu 21 Feb

Where is Hilton Botha?

11:38:51 am - Thu 21 Feb

Nel has announced that they were unaware of the impending case against Botha. The magistrate has adjourned for 15 minutes, because he would like to address the Botha issue and recall him. Botha resides in the building but not in the court room.

11:36:32 am - Thu 21 Feb

Magistrate Nair is now addressing the issue of Botha.

11:30:03 am - Thu 21 Feb

And the surprise for the morning…

11:26:38 am - Thu 21 Feb

The magistrate has entered the court and soon after Oscar Pistorius follows.

11:19:34 am - Thu 21 Feb

The NPA has just announce via eNCA that the decision to replace Botha as the investigating officer has not been made yet. That decision however relies with the SAPS. They make decisions regarding who should lead an investigation, however, the NPA has made clear that cases like these depend on a team of investigators, including ballistics and forensics teams who provide crucial evidence and not just on one person.

11:07:19 am - Thu 21 Feb

A lot of rumours surrounding Hilton Botha’s further participation in this case. No confirmation yet, so we wait for an official announcement.

10:47:09 am - Thu 21 Feb

Oscar Pistorius’s family gather in the public gallery ahead of the fourth day of court proceedings

[Picture by Mandy Wiener, EWN]

2:51:53 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Botha steps down as the magistrate reads out the reasons why bail may be opposed. Court is adjourned and arguments will continue tomorrow morning at 11.

2:46:35 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Nel is now trying to establish some clarification on the flight risk issue, asking Botha whether he thinks he will flee or not. The court room seems amused by the whole “do you think he will run?” reference.

2:39:37 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Read the article on Oscar’s previous assault cases here.

2:38:02 pm - Wed 20 Feb

2:36:21 pm - Wed 20 Feb

A lot of confusion in the court now as Botha reveals he had met Oscar before because there was a prior incident at his house where he was arrested. A docket was opened but the matter was not carried further, say Botha. The magistrate would like Nel to question this – Why has it not surfaced before?

2:32:28 pm - Wed 20 Feb

The magistrate wants clarification on whether Botha recognised Oscar…

2:28:37 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Nel seems to be going hard at the cross examination. Asking Botha to consider whether he really believes his version of the story is true.

2:23:17 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Side read – Oscar Pistorius case: Bail isn’t denied as easily as you think (Daily Maverick)

2:20:01 pm - Wed 20 Feb

And with that, Roux is done with the cross-examination and Nel will now attempt to recover some step as he re-examines Botha.

2:17:24 pm - Wed 20 Feb

And not, Botha seeks to dismiss the Melrose Arch gun fire claim…

2:08:25 pm - Wed 20 Feb

The statement about the holster being found on the left hand side of the bed is being addressed now. Roux asks whether Botha noticed the medicinal patch on Oscar’s shoulder because he was having problems. It’s because of this problem that the pair had swapped sides sleeping on the night in question.

2:02:36 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Even though the statement Botha received said neighbours had heard a screaming female voice, the defence has now stated that the voice was in fact Oscar’s.

1:57:18 pm - Wed 20 Feb

The defence seems to be hammering home the idea that Botha’s testimony lacks some significant investigation and that some of his statements can not at this stage be backed up by forensic evidence because the tests have not been carried out as yet.

1:54:09 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Botha is questioned about the ammunition.

1:45:16 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Roux is now questioning Botha about his insinuation earlier that the accused could be a flight risk…
Botha further admits to telling Oscar’s family that he didn’t think bail should be opposed.

1:41:56 pm - Wed 20 Feb

1:40:57 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Back from the recess, court is in session again and investigating officer Hilton Botha remains under cross examination.

1:22:37 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Court is adjourned till 1:30. Here’s a pic of the floor plans as presented in court.
[Picture by Alex Eliseev, EWN]

12:50:10 pm - Wed 20 Feb

The cricket bat theory has been squashed.

12:47:54 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Roux now starts to question Botha about his allegation that there were no calls made to Net-Care.
Botha admits to not calling Net-Care and asking them whether a call was logged.

12:41:51 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Roux provides evidence that Reeva’s bladder was empty. Consistent with Oscar’s version of the story – That she had gone to the toilet.

12:32:39 pm - Wed 20 Feb

The defence is aggressively questioning Botha about the proposed witness who heard the argument. So far details have emerged that she was 600m away and she did not specifically say she heard Reeva’s voice.

12:25:15 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Botha is questioned about the testosterone samples which were found.

According to Alex Eliseev of EWN, the drugs still have to be tested.

12:18:14 pm - Wed 20 Feb

Allegations surfacing now of more than 4 shots…

12:16:09 pm - Wed 20 Feb

In the cross examination, Roux asks whether Botha tested visibility in the bedroom at night with the lights off. Botha replies in the affirmative, and explains that it’s “pitch-dark”

12:08:31 pm - Wed 20 Feb

And it’s time for the cross examination.
To get all the details on what has happened so far, click here.

12:04:48 pm - Wed 20 Feb

The investigator now says that evidence showed Oscar kept his holster on the left hand side. That was Reeva’s side of the bed. He adds that it’s highly unlikely that Oscar was trying to protect Reeva or himself.

11:53:25 am - Wed 20 Feb

The state continues with their statement by making reference to Oscar’s prior encounters with guns and violence. The prosecution says there have been incidents in the past where Oscar has threatened violence, they also mention how a gun went off in Melrose Arch in his presence.

11:49:18 am - Wed 20 Feb

Lots of evidential testimony is currently being made by the state during today’s court proceedings which are contradicting Oscar’s statement yesterday.

11:42:52 am - Wed 20 Feb

11:39:53 am - Wed 20 Feb

The investigation seems to be making some strong observations on behalf of the prosecution. Seemingly incongruent with yesterday’s affidavit.

11:35:53 am - Wed 20 Feb

Photographers have now been allowed back into the court.
Botha is using the house plan to describe the events of the evening. According to Barry Bateman of EWN, the investigator says the Steenkamp would have to have been shot from inside the bathroom.

11:29:27 am - Wed 20 Feb

Court is in session again.

The house plans are being showed to the court.

11:12:15 am - Wed 20 Feb

A small group of protesters outside the court. [Picture by Mandy Wiener, EWN]

10:55:05 am - Wed 20 Feb

Court has been adjourned for a short break, while a floor plan of Oscar’s bathroom is set up.

10:46:26 am - Wed 20 Feb

He adds that investigations regarding the cricket bat however, are still ongoing.

10:45:57 am - Wed 20 Feb

There is no bloody cricket bat- as reported, so far. Botha thinks the cricket bat may have been used to try and break open the bathroom door.

10:44:05 am - Wed 20 Feb

Botha explains that they found tow iPhones near the gun. Neither of them were used to make the call to the police.

10:39:37 am - Wed 20 Feb

Hilton Botha explains the layout of the house. He describes the inside, and what he saw when he entered. He mentions that Reeva was wearing a black shorts and white top when they found her.

10:33:38 am - Wed 20 Feb

The state has called investigating officer Hilton Botha to the stand.
Yesterday, the defence read out an affidavit on behalf of Oscar, where he clearly stated it was not his intention to murder Reeva, even though that is the state’s accusation. News reporter Phillip de Wet was at the court covering the story. Read the details of yesterday’s proceedings here.

10:29:46 am - Wed 20 Feb

Today in court, the state prosecution will elaborate on its case against Oscar Pistorius after asking for a delay yesterday. Meanwhile, Oscar’s sponsors, Nike and Oakley have cut ties with the athlete albeit not indefinitely. Read more here.

3:09:30 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Media mob outside the court, [Phillip de Wet, M&G]

3:00:16 pm - Tue 19 Feb

The magistrate agrees to the prosecution’s request.

And that’s a wrap for today, stay tuned tomorrow for more updates as and when they happen.

2:56:45 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Back after the short break- Oscar’s defence rests and the prosecution asks if the hearing can be postponed until tomorrow so that they have more time to deal with Roux’s application and take heed of the affidavits they brought forward.

2:50:43 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Court will resume again after another short adjournment.

2:42:26 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Correction: Reeva’s best friend is Samantha Greyvenstein (not Cruyvenstein)

2:32:21 pm - Tue 19 Feb

2:30:59 pm - Tue 19 Feb

The defence continues to read statements from Oscar’s and Reeva’s friends, hoping to prove that the couple were not arguing.

2:24:53 pm - Tue 19 Feb

According to @eNCAnews, Oscar called his friend Justin Devaris after the shooting. Justin’s statement is now being read in court while he attends Reeva’s memorial service.
Justin says he became close with Oscar after they both discovered they had a mutual love of cars. “I introduced Oscar and Reeva,” his statement further says, “it was obvious they were immediately attracted to each other”.

2:20:52 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar’s friend Alex describes his relationship with Reeva as close and says they were very in love.

2:15:55 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar confirms that the details of the affidavit which Roux has read on his behalf are correct.

2:14:53 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I dont know of any witnesses in this matter, and I wont interfere with any witnesses. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

2:14:10 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: After the shooting I did not flee the scene. I remained until the police arrived. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

2:11:00 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I tried to help her but she died in my arms. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

2:10:08 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I kicked the door open. Called paramedics and complex security. I tried to carry her down stairs for help.

2:09:42 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I walked back to the bed and realised Reeva was not in bed. Its then it dawned on me it could be her in there.

2:07:48 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: Because I did not have my legs on I felt vulnerable. I fired shots through the bathroom door and told Reeva to call police. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

2:07:01 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I was scared and didnt switch on the light. I got my gun and moved towards the bathroom. I screamed at the intruder. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

2:06:09 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I sleep with my 9mm under my bed. I woke up to close the sliding door and heard a noise in the bathroom. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

2:05:31 pm - Tue 19 Feb

The statement continues… Roux will continue to read it on behalf of Oscar
Oscar Pistorius: I’m accutely aware of people gaining entries to homes to commit crime, I’ve received death threats. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

2:01:03 pm - Tue 19 Feb

…Proceedings have come to a halt while Oscar seeks support from his family at the request of the magistrate.

1:58:24 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I was watching TV. My legs were off. She was doing yoga. At the end of the evening we got into bed. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

1:57:36 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius continues his statement through his defence: On 13 Feb Reeva would have gone out with her friends, me with mine. She wanted to stay at home. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

1:56:37 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius nothing can be further from the truth that I planned the murder of my girlfriend. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

1:55:19 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius: I have been informed I have been acused of murder – I deny the accusation. (Source: Barry Bateman, EWN)

1:53:32 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Roux reads the statement on behalf of Oscar… According to Barry Bateman from EWN it says, “I make this affidavit of my own free will and have not been influenced”

1:50:56 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Court is in session again.
Oscar’s defence is asking the state prosecution to furnish them with evidence to support some of the allegations like the fact that Oscar and Reeva argued the night of the shooting.

They are also about to read Oscar’s statement.

12:39:46 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Nair has settled on a schedule 6 (premeditated murder charge) saying he cannot at this stage rule out planning.

12:25:45 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Nair is upset about having to rule on the case without receiving a certificate from the state stating that it was premeditated murder.

12:20:58 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Nair is going through the details of the case from both sides. First he voices the argument on behalf of the state and then reaction from the defence.

12:17:52 pm - Tue 19 Feb

According to M&G reporter Niren Tolsi, Oscar starts sobbing as Magistrate Nair is about to pronounce on the schedule of offence. If he is charged with schedule 5 it’s murder, if it’s schedule 6, it’s premeditated.

12:12:41 pm - Tue 19 Feb

The court seems to be taking a few minutes discussing the crowd control issue. The media are taking up a lot of space with their equipment, perhaps he should question the necessity of this since he’s already warned against taking pictures during the hearing?

12:10:46 pm - Tue 19 Feb

12:08:43 pm - Tue 19 Feb

Picture by: EWN Reporter

12:04:58 pm - Tue 19 Feb

12:03:13 pm - Tue 19 Feb

According to EWN, there seems to be a confusion about the use of the word “planned” in the court. Magistrate Nair questions the use of the word. The defence says “planned” means the same as “premeditated”, Magistrate Nair references this by reading up on some case law, he’s not convinced.

11:58:18 am - Tue 19 Feb

Once again a shuffle inside as journalists cram in. The court is packed.
(Picture by: Mandy Weiner)

11:53:11 am - Tue 19 Feb

The break’s almost over, hearing about to proceed again.

11:38:41 am - Tue 19 Feb

In the meantime, you can read the full update on the story by clicking here.

11:04:16 am - Tue 19 Feb

Court breaks the session, at this point the defence remains steadfast in its argument that this is not murder, nor premeditated murder.

11:00:17 am - Tue 19 Feb

The defence is once again arguing against the schedule six accusation. “How does the state know that he put on his prosthesis, walked to the bathroom and fired a gun? Is there a witness?” they ask.

10:53:43 am - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar seems perplexed by all of Nel’s statements. The prosecutor is being quite graphic, he’s not holding back when he describes the scene and Oscar seems to break down at the mention of Reeva’s name.

10:50:55 am - Tue 19 Feb

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel seems to be convinced that the shooting was premeditated. He’s posing some serious statements in court in an effort to substantiate the argument.

10:39:36 am - Tue 19 Feb

The defence is now arguing that there is no basis for premeditated murder and the prosecution need to prove that Oscar had better motives to kill Reeva other than shoot at her from behind a closed bathroom door.

10:33:03 am - Tue 19 Feb

The advocate Barry Roux is going to argue that it was not premeditated murder by providing proof of previous cases where parents have shot kids or husbands have shot wives through doors without even knowing who they were.

10:26:47 am - Tue 19 Feb

Journalists seems to be waiting for the court to mention of the bloodied cricket bat as some newspaper reports have shown.

Oscar seems to be holding a folded piece of paper in his hand as the defence prepares to speak. Wonder what it says?

10:06:55 am - Tue 19 Feb

The fact that he thought she was a burglar seems unlikely according to the prosecution. “Why would a burglar lock themselves in a bathroom?”

10:04:07 am - Tue 19 Feb

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel opens by outlining the circumstances on the night of the shooting. He describes that there were two people in the house.

And continues to offer a description of what might happened.

9:56:07 am - Tue 19 Feb

Oscar Pistorius appears in court today after another media scramble. Only a few journalists have been let in and photographers have been issued a warning about inappropriate snapping. They seem to be ignoring this though even though the magistrate has warned them that they will be held in contempt of court.

12:49:21 pm - Fri 15 Feb

That seems like it for today. We’ll keep you posted with any new developments on this story.

12:46:39 pm - Fri 15 Feb

As soon as the court is dismissed there’s a rush of media to the door, hoping to get a glimpse of Oscar or his family. He departs from the premises in a police van after being ushered out.

12:45:45 pm - Fri 15 Feb

Oscar will be held in the Brooklyn police cells until then, this is a departure from the way things normally run. Usually, suspects are held in their local prisons.

12:44:48 pm - Fri 15 Feb

Magistrate grants application for postponement of case, saying it will leave the investigation with more time to prepare. So the case is postponed until next Tuesday and Wednesday.

12:44:01 pm - Fri 15 Feb

When the “magistrate” reads out the charge of murder, Oscar cries, but then pulls himself back together, his sister seems to be praying quietly, while there is application going on to postpone the case.

12:42:59 pm - Fri 15 Feb

The magistrate has ruled against live coverage of Oscar’s bail proceedings. He will permit the broadcast of the judgment only.

12:42:37 pm - Fri 15 Feb

Oscar’s lawyer is against live coverage saying the bail proceeding is inquisitorial and therefore not finite.

12:41:51 pm - Fri 15 Feb

Media would like the proceeding to be televised mentioning the fact that the Schabir Shaik case was televised as well.

12:40:25 pm - Fri 15 Feb

The magistrate keeps calling for order but disgruntled journalist are scuffling outside the door, making a noise.

12:39:42 pm - Fri 15 Feb

Oscar arrives at court with a hoodie covering his face. His older brother Carl sits in the front row, the resemblance between the two siblings is uncanny.

11:07:10 am - Fri 15 Feb

Last minute formalities taking place in court. Proceedings seem like they’re about to get going. Oscar’s dad and sister amongst the attendees.

11:03:00 am - Fri 15 Feb

According to EWN correspondent, Barry Bateman (http://twitter.com/barrybateman), Advocate Gerrie Nel will be prosecuting the Oscar Pistorius case. He is the same state advocate who prosecuted Jackie Selebi.

10:51:37 am - Fri 15 Feb

At the courtroom. All media camera crew including photographers who have not been pre-approved have been asked to leave.

10:37:33 am - Fri 15 Feb

Pistorius arrives in court to face murder charge.

Two police vehicles brought paralympian and murder-accused Oscar Pistorius to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning. Read more here.

3:17:36 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Police spokesperson Denise Beukes has confirmed that Oscar will appear in court tomorrow and spend the night in jail. The dockets will only be seen in the morning and the case will be placed on the court row like any other case. It has to be seen tomorrow, even if it is after hours because court hearings need to take place within 24 hours of the reported crime. At this stage the prosecution is unclear but cases of this nature usually go to the National Director of Prosecutions.

The reason he was not able to appear in court today is because preliminary investigations are still taking place.

2:03:03 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Oscar to appear in court after 2pm.

1:31:28 pm - Thu 14 Feb

According to EWN reporter Alex Eliseev, police have confirmed that they will oppose a bail hearing later today.

1:16:49 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Oscar’s attorney has indicated to police that he will bring a bail application this afternoon at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.

1:16:20 pm - Thu 14 Feb

According to Beukes, the victim has not been named officially because her family live outside the province and have not yet identified her.

1:15:41 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Forensic investigators are still examining the scene where Beukes says at least two shots were fired.

Police are waiting on the results of an autopsy, hopefully due back later this afternoon.

1:11:28 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Beukes also says voices were heardthe previous evening. An argument? “Perhaps”, she responds.

1:10:36 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Brigadier Denise Beukes, senior standby officer in the scene, says neighbours called police after hearing the shots. A 9mm pistol belonging to Oscar was found on the scene.

12:12:43 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Pistorius’s lawyer Kenny Oldwage has left the Boschkop police station, according to Sapa.

11:48:43 am - Thu 14 Feb

Eye Witness News reporter alexeliseev tweets: #Oscar Reeva’s agent tells Sky News the couple had a “healthy, fabulous relationship”, going out for a few months.

11:40:09 am - Thu 14 Feb

Pistorius kept a machine gun near his window, according to this Daily Mail article.

11:33:13 am - Thu 14 Feb

According to Stephen Tuson, adjunct professor at the school of law, Wits, claiming self-defence can only work if you are the subject of an attack which is unlawful. If the attack has commenced or is imminent then you are allowed to use reasonable force as is necessary to repel that attack.

11:27:45 am - Thu 14 Feb

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius’s father on Thursday said his son was “sad” following a shooting at his Pretoria home which left his girlfriend dead, Sapa reports.

“I don’t know nothing. It will be extremely obnoxious and rude to speculate. I don’t know the facts,” Henke Pistorius told SABC radio news.

“If anyone makes a statement, it will have to be Oscar. He’s sad at the moment.”

11:12:23 am - Thu 14 Feb

Pistorius will make his first court appearance within hours.

10:54:00 am - Thu 14 Feb

Reeva Steenkamp’s last tweet:

What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? #getexcited #ValentinesDay

10:45:16 am - Thu 14 Feb

Police have not named 26-year-old Pistorius as the suspect but confirmed that a woman, reported to be his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, had been found dead at the scene in the upmarket Silver Woods gated community east of Pretoria.

10:43:42 am - Thu 14 Feb

Stay tuned to this live blog on the shooting involving Olympian Oscar Pistorius. We keep you update with the news as it happens. It is a Valentine’s Day tragedy that has shocked the nation.

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#Sona2013 – Live from the address

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Mail & Guardian

Follow the Mail & Guardian as we cover President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address live from Cape Town.

8:31:50 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma wraps things up and wishes everyone a happy Valentine’s day. Time to hit the red carpet snd find out what his friends and foes say.

8:30:27 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: As South Africans, we should continue to have primary goal – to make our country a truly great and prosperous nation.

8:28:40 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: This program of action will be implemented differently as activities of departments must be aligned with National Development Plan.

8:26:36 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: We stand with the people of Palestine. The expansion of Israeli settlements is a serious block to the resolution of the conflict.

8:25:08 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma now turns to foreign affairs. Says South Africa stands by Mali, looks forward to political improvement in Zimbabwe and encourage Central Africa Republic and Somalia to work towards lasting peace.

8:20:49 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says incidents of violent protest will be acted upon, investigated and prosecuted.

8:19:18 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says the right to protest cannot supersede the rights of other citizens who affected by said protests.

8:18:37 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: We call on all citizens to celebrate, promote and defend our constitution.

8:17:29 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: There are some lessons from Marikana & other incidents that we cannot allow to recur in our country.

8:16:21 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says all vacant posts at “the upper echelons” of the criminal justice system to boost fight against corruption.

8:15:10 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: We urge the private sector to also take the fight against corruption seriously so that we tackle it from all angles.

8:12:18 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says government will add protection from harassment bill to protect persons who are victims through electronic communication.

8:09:58 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says he’s directed law enforcement agencies to treat gender based violence cases with utmost urgency and importance.

8:08:06 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: The brutality and cruelty meted out to defenceless women is unacceptable and has no place in our country.

8:06:14 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: The brutal gang rape & murder of Anene Booysen and other woman & girls has brought into sharp focus the need for unity in action to eradicate this scourge.

8:03:53 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: There should be peace & stability in agricultural sector and living & working conditions of farm workers must be improved dramatically.

8:01:11 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says “willing buyer, willing seller” principle on land will be abandoned for the “just & equitable” principle for compensation.

7:59:04 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: The land question is a highly emotive matter. We need to resolve it amicably within the framework of the constitution and law.

7:58:13 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: From April 2013 approximately 600 private medical practitioners will be contracted to provide medical services at 533 clinics within villages and townships in 10 of the pilot districts.

7:56:05 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says National Health Insurance Fund will be created in 2014. Department of health to intensify progress in pilot districts.

7:54:33 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: Diseases of lifestyle are on an alarming increase. We have to combat & lower the levels of smoking, alcohol, poor diets & obesity.

7:52:45 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma lauds the increase in life expectancy since 2009. From 56 to 60 years in 2011.

7:50:38 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says a presidential remuneration committee will be established to investigate pay of all state employees – in particular teachers.

7:48:46 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: By saying education is an essential service we are not taking away the constitutional rights of teachers to strike.

7:47:53 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma encourages private sector to partner with government to establish and sponsor maths & science academies or saturday schools.

7:45:57 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: We welcome the improvement each year on education, but more must be done to improve maths, science and technology.

7:44:11 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: We are pleased the grade 12 pass rate is finally on an upward trend.

7:43:09 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma says 2013 will see study conducted on feasibility of tweaking “current mining royalties regime” to “suitably serve our people”

7:42:55 pm - Thu 14 Feb

7:38:54 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: Working together we can restore social stability in the mining sector.

7:37:35 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: We appeal to the private sector to absorb 11000 FET graduates that are awaiting placement.

7:32:21 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: A key project of the presidency is to ensure that government pays SMMEs within the prescribed 30 day period.

7:28:44 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma: To prepare for a bigger economy we need to develop infrastructure more.

7:26:35 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma lists major infrastructural achievements since 2012 #SONA. Says R800m has been spent on upgrades.

7:23:46 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Zuma turns his attention to achievements since last year’s state of the nation address.

7:22:52 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Just made it back into parliamentary imbizo centre. @SAPresident Zuma has begun his SONA address. Big focus on National Development Plan.

7:07:54 pm - Thu 14 Feb

President Zuma makes his way into parliamentary chambers. Military parade begins to disperse. Let’s get down to business.

7:05:43 pm - Thu 14 Feb

President Zuma reaches the top of the red carpet, receiving a 21 gun salute as Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika plays.

7:00:58 pm - Thu 14 Feb

The president’s first wife, Ma’Khumalo is following behind him and Sisulu. His other three wives are already in the parliamentary chamber.

6:58:11 pm - Thu 14 Feb

President Jacob Zuma has begun his march up the red carpet, flanked by parliamentary speaker Max Sisulu.

6:50:26 pm - Thu 14 Feb

There’s a relative calm in the air as we await the arrival of president Jacob Zuma. The brass band continues unabated. Journos & dignitaries alike, check their watches and tap their feet.

6:44:33 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe makes his way up the red carpet, cheerfully waving as he goes.

6:39:07 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Next up… Chief Justice Moegeng Moegeng leads all constitutional court judges up the red carpet.

6:36:00 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Full military procession up the red carpet and all provincial premiers follow. We’re getting close to the president’s arrival.

6:27:57 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Parliamentary speaker Max Sisulu has also arrived. He makes his way up the red carpet as the brass band belts out “The lion sleeps tonight.”

6:25:14 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Planning minister Trevor Manuel and his wife scurry across the red carpet and enter parliament’s side door.

6:20:07 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Back on the red carpet, parliamentary big wigs are marching up to parliament’s entrance while the brass band plays away.

6:15:07 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Mosiuoa Lekota Cope President:

Our history has led us to act inhumanely towards one another. Guns are not the answer to our problems.

6:11:55 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Mandla Mandela ANC MP:

Violence is on the rise in our society and guns are a big part of that.

6:09:50 pm - Thu 14 Feb

FF+ leader Pieter Mulder:

People are using guns to protect themselves and of course crime makes people act unnaturally.

6:07:03 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Western Cape premier Helen Zille:

Its a catch 22 situation. Guns are not conducive to a peaceful society but people feel the need to protect themselves.

6:05:31 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Returning to what parliamentarians said about the shooting at Oscar Pistorius’ house…

6:01:53 pm - Thu 14 Feb

The red carpet has been cleared and journos and dignitaries pushed behind the roped barriers in anticipation of the arrival of President Jacob Zuma.

5:54:10 pm - Thu 14 Feb

The shooting involving Oscar Pistorius has been a central theme for comment by parliamentarians arriving for the state of the nation address.

5:36:51 pm - Thu 14 Feb

More dignitaries are trickling down the red carpet. So far to have arrived:

Mosiuoa Lekota of Cope

Mmusi Maimane of DA

Pieter Mulder of FF+

5:25:15 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Western Cape premiere Helen Zille has Rrived wearing a flowing blue frock with blue ostrich feather detail on her handbag.

5:22:56 pm - Thu 14 Feb

SAPS commisioner Riah Phiyega has just arrived in full police garb. No bullet proof vests, but a blue skirt and top hat.

4:58:51 pm - Thu 14 Feb

Greetings and welcome to the Mail & Guardian’s live blog of the 2013 state of the nation address.

I’m Nickolaus Bauer – live from the red carpet outside parliament where dignitaries have slowly started arriving.

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AFCON 2013: Inside the stadium

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Mail & Guardian

The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on January 19 in Johannesburg.  Join the M&G as we follow the continent’s biggest soccer tournament.

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Mangaung: ANC national electoral conference

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Mail & Guardian

The ANC’s national electoral conference in Mangaung, Free State, will be running from December 16 to 21. ANC branches opened nominations for the party’s top job at the end of September, which led to much speculation over whether there would be any contenders for incumbent president Jacob Zuma. The nomination process was fraught with allegations of fraud and vote rigging as party members battled it out to ensure their preferred candidates made it to contend for the position of ANC president.

Follow the Mail & Guardian team as they cover the conference through the week.

7:38:14 pm - Thu 20 Dec

After finishing his address, Zuma leads delegates in the singing of a song – seemingly his new trademark – “Inde indlela Esihambayo, wathi Mandela!”

It means: “We’ve got a long road to lead, so said Mandela”

7:35:13 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: As I bid you farewell, let me remind you of the wise words of President Nelson Mandela: There is no easy walk to freedom.
There is certainly no easy walk to socio-economic freedom.

7:32:36 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: We have every confidence in the medical team attending to him. He remains in our thoughts and prayers and may Tata Madiba recover soon. NB

7:31:14 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma pretty much tell us what we already know… Mandela went in for treatment of a recurring lung infection. Doctors discovered gall stones and operated on the former president on the 15th of December. NB

7:29:45 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma now makes a special announcement on the health of Nelson Mandela. The media contingent collectively hold their breath. NB

7:28:55 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: As ANC members we must know that we don’t live to serve ourselves, but live to serve the people of this country. NB

7:27:36 pm - Thu 20 Dec

To loud applause, Zuma announces that the new ANC NEC will take a look at the current status of the ANC youth league. NB

7:25:29 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: We have taken several other resolutions ensure we implement our good policies. In other words, we can’t carry on this path simply because we are strong. We need to start implementing our policies.

7:23:53 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: We call on members of the ANC, where ever they are deployed, to build on the message of the national development plan.

7:22:15 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: Our first major task ahead of us, is the democratic implementation of the National Development Plan.

7:21:04 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma says the next five years will see the ANC led government fundamentally change the way the economy is formed, to better serve the needs of its people.

7:18:52 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma announces Kgalema Motlanthe as the new leader of the ANC’s political school. All conference delegates rise and cheer in his honour.

Good move by the ANC. At least Motlanthe’s skills are not truly lost now.

7:17:33 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma going strong on discipline within the ANC. Says cadres assisting former members of the movement who have been expelled, to destabilise the movement, must be severely dealt with.

Best Julius Malema’s mates sit down then.

7:15:23 pm - Thu 20 Dec

The winners and the losers… Have a look at the new NEC of the ANC.

7:14:28 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: We have to optimise the institutionalisation of cadre development and poltical development. NB

7:12:36 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma: We will leave this conference with great optimism as we already know the ANC is renewing itself already

7:11:36 pm - Thu 20 Dec

“All members of the ANC are entitled to be nominated for whatever position in the ANC. They should not be ostracised for exercising their democratic right in the ANC.”

7:10:35 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuma begins delivering his final address…

“As the incoming leadership collective, we are humbled by the confidence the branches of the ANC have shown in us.
We also pay tribute to the outgoing leadership and their efforts that have built this organisation over the past 5 years.
We must all do everything that is humanly possible to foster unity into the organisation. Like Madiba told us: ‘Unity is the rock upon which the ANC is built.’”

NB

7:06:05 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Zuna hurries to the mic. He leads the delegates through a round of “Amandla” and “Awethu” with military precision. NB

7:05:06 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Baleka Mbete makes her final address to the Mangaung conference. She commends delegates on their discipline and good behaviour.

“Now, though, its time for me to make way for comrade president – comrade president, the floor is yours,” she says.

7:03:07 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Ramaphosa makes a big note on the ANC’s decade of the cadre.

Says the next ten years will mark a serious push to regenerate the movement by equipping its members with the necessary skills to serve South Africa’s people. NB

6:56:11 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Ramaphosa reading from a prepared text. He delivers it better than Zuma does. #Justsaying

NB

6:51:38 pm - Thu 20 Dec

And we’re back! The lights are back on and newly elected ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa is now adressing the Mangaung elective conference.

He will deliver the declaration of the conference – it marks his first address as ANC depity president. NB

5:56:48 pm - Thu 20 Dec

While technicians try to sort the power out… Mangaung delegates are singing and dancing inside the main plenary marquee.

One wonder if they’ll let Zuma deliver his final address if the lights are out. Anyone got a megaphone?

NB

5:48:00 pm - Thu 20 Dec

AND the lights go out… As the chaplain is offering his final prayer to conference.

We hear someone in the crowd scream “amen.”

Journalists laugh.

5:46:30 pm - Thu 20 Dec

ANC chaplain is on stage now offering his final blessing to the Mangaung elective conference.

“You have been with this organisation since its inception, may you continue to be with the ANC for another hundred years.” NB

5:32:32 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Well… Straight off the bat, the major names who were excluded from election to the ANC NEC are as follows.

Tokyo Sexwale

Matthews Phosa

Fikile Mbalula

Thandi Modise

Basically, anyone who ran for positions in the ANC top 6 against Zuma aligned candidates.

5:30:28 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Newly elected ANC NEC continued

Bheki Cele

Dikeledi Makhatsi

Humphrey Mmemezi

Sam Mashinini

Pule Mabe

Tony Yengeni

David Makhubo

Rosinah Semenya

Miriam Segubotsa (spelling)

Edna Molewa

Winnie Mandela

Toko Didiza

ENDS

5:27:39 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Chairperson of the ANC electoral chairperson Mochubela Seekoe has just handed over to another electoral official who begins reading out names of the new ANC NEC…

They are as follows:

Nkosasana Dlamini Zuma

Malusi Gigaba

Lindiwe Sisulu

Collins Chabane

Jeff Radebe

Naledi Pandor

Derek Hanekom

Pravin Gordhan

Tito Mboweni

Nathi Mthethwa

Max Sisulu

Bathabile Dlamini

Pallo Jordan

Blade Nzimande

Jackson Mthembu

Aaron Motsoaledi

Enoch Godongwana

Ayanda Dlodlo

Zizi Kodwa

Ebrahim Ebrahim

Nomaindia Mfeketo

Sdumo Dlamini

Thulas Nxesi

Nkoane Mashabane

Billy Masetla

Ngoako Ramatlodi

Angie Motshekga

Lindie Zulu

Siyabonga Cwele

Tina

Rejoice Mabusa-Fassie

Susan Shabangu

Mildred Oliphant

Sue van der Merwe

Rose Zoleka

Joe Phaahla

Joel Netshintenze

Fikile Majola

Joyce Mashamba

Pam Tshwete

5:20:04 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Greetings once again comrades and counter-revolutionaries! We’re into the final stretch of the ANc elective conference in Mangaung.

Nickolaus Bauer reporting from the main plenary tent ahead of the announcement of the newly elected ANC National Executive Committee (NEC).

3:52:52 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Based on these comments the teaching of indigenous languages in South African schools could soon become a reality.

Phaahla: We have been assured by our colleagues in the basic education sector that the teaching of indigenous languages in school will be able to become government policy as from 2014

The sooner we have it as a policy, the sooner we came stimulate the demand for those languages to be taught at university to develop teachers.

All government departments will also need to provide written correspondence to citizens in at least two official indigenous languages dependent on which area it operates in, in addition to English and Afrikaans.

Once its approved as policy it will have to be implemented, regardless of the area the school finds itself in. Whether be it a white area or indian area, and indigenous African language must be taught alongside English and Afrikaans.

3:42:38 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Phaahla: All public schools must include at least one indigenous language in their curriculum and the area in which the school is in will dictate which language our learners are taught.

3:40:10 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Mashatile adds that Nkosi sikelela iAfrika will now be sung in all ANC meetings to set an example for the rest of South Africa.

But, the ANC has not taken a decision to make it compulsory to sing the national anthem at Schools.

They will however encouraged it going forward.

3:37:18 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Arts & culture minister Paul Mashatile on the mic now, addressing the financial assistance that will provided to young job seekers.

Says money won’t simply be “dished out” but rather be made available to develop young people.

3:29:01 pm - Thu 20 Dec

If Mangaung delegates have their way, at least one indigenous language will become part of the curriculum for all learners. It is hopes this will preserve and develop South Africa’s indigenous languages.

3:27:26 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Phaahla makes a big deal of noting that sports and recreation will be championed in public schools in order to aid nation building and child development.

3:25:46 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Mangaung has also decided all pubic schools should have access for disabled people.

3:25:07 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Phaahla:We can’t rely on the labour market alone to curb unemployment. Even if you have GDP growth of 5% joblessness will persist

3:24:54 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Phaahla: Youth unemployment is a big issue in South Africa, young people are those most affected by joblessness.

3:24:08 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Up next is the social transformation report back. Joe Phaahla is on the mic.

He says Mangaung decided old age pensions should be distributed from 60 years of age for both men and women

Phaahla also going big on child support from state. Mangaung decided support grants will be given for children up to 18 years of age.

2:58:27 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Mfeketo says there are “practical complexities” in moves to introduce a single public service.

“Because you have three different spheres of government, you have three different types of public servants. We see a single payroll for all public servants as one way we can speed up this resolution of bringing in a single public service.

But, there are constitutional obligations we will have to fulfill if we ever want a public service

There were complaints that we have city managers that earn more than the president, and this is something we have to address.

The question is how we level the playing field in terms of salaries and training.”

2:42:35 pm - Thu 20 Dec

The ANC has steered clear of the separation of provinces for the moments. Is up for discussion over the next 5 years.

Mfeketo says he matter will be brought up at the ANC’s next National General Council and if implmented, will only be done so in 2019 after the elections.

2:35:21 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Mfeketo also indicates there will be tangible moves towards a single public service.

A motion has been adopted that calls for a chief remuneration auditor that will assess the salaries and increases of state employees. NB

2:29:31 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Lyn Brown and Nomaindie Mfeketo are for this report back.

Mfeketo starts off with the funding of municipalities which are not viable.

“If a municipality is completely unviable and can’t support itself, national government should fund it.”

2:24:56 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Finance report back is done and dusted. Up next is legisature and governance. NB

2:11:25 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Mkhize says the ANC only accepts “one-way” donations. Says people can’t give the ruling party something and expect something in return.

1:54:36 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Back for some more report backs from ANC #Mangaung conference. Up now, the ruling party’s finances – where are they spending and saving?

Newly elected treasurer general Zweli Mkhize is here. Says funding, fundraising and fiscal discipline were main talking points.

The ANC has also decided not to increase its annual R12 membership fee. Mkhize says the party will focus on garnering donations from individuals.

1:00:56 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Also.. Check out the union movement’s reaction to billionaire businessman Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment as ANC deputy president. Apparently they’ve welcomed it, BUT Cosatu might still be headed for a clash with the ruling party after Mangaung, the way Zwelinzima Vavi has been tweeting.

12:45:37 pm - Thu 20 Dec

We’re in the middle of question time , so have a look at this gem of a story from Sam Mkokeli from Business Day.
‘Donald Trump’ of SA politics doesn’t know he’s been fired’

12:42:10 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Fact mine nationalisation is out the window shows Juju & his cronies are truly dead & buried in #Mangaung. Vavi and the left might be next. NB

12:32:50 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Godongwana says all economic policies pursued by the ANC will balance job creation, indusrialisation and GDP growth. Its difficult to see how that will happen easily. The three aren’t always interchangeable – you have to pick one or two. NB

12:29:27 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Mining nationalisation is of the table and it looks like the youth wage subsidy is just about dead and buried as the ANc is looking at other means to curb rampant youth unemployment. NB

12:28:31 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Highlights so far are the embracing of the national development plan is the national vision for all policy intervention in the country. NB

12:27:18 pm - Thu 20 Dec

Economic transformation report back now at the Mangaung elective conference.

Malusi Gigaba, Enoch Godongwana and Thaba Mafamada of the NEC sub-comm are all in attendance.

9:57:33 am - Thu 20 Dec

Mthembu jumps in now to quash rumours of Kgalema Motlanthe’s imminent resignation.

“There is no such thing that has been decided. The deputy president of the republic remains a deployee of the ANC in that position until 2014.” NB

9:54:50 am - Thu 20 Dec

Mantashe also quick to discount a Business Day story about newly elected ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa becoming prime minister in 2013.

“There is no such position in South Africa. The deputy president is the facto prime minister as he is the leader of government business. We are also not electing any government officials here, we are electing office bearers of the ANC.”

9:51:45 am - Thu 20 Dec

Greetings comrades and counter revolutionaries…

Nickolaus Bauer here at the final of proceedings at the ANC Mangaung elective conference.

Currently in a briefing with Jackson Mthembu and Gwede Mantashe.

They are prepping all the journalists for the plenary report backs, which begin with constitutional amendements.

They say conference will hopfully finish at 2pm.

12:29:56 am - Thu 20 Dec

So this is us done for the evening. Jackson Mthembu has just informed all media that report backs will re-commence at 9 am.

12:25:39 am - Thu 20 Dec

The Mangaung conference has also passed a motion instructing the newly elected NEC to examine the state of the ANC youth league. Expect them to either have Ronald Lamola elected as permanent leader or dissolve the body’s NEC altogether.

This is to rid the league of any last remnants of the Julius Malema era, I think. NB

12:11:20 am - Thu 20 Dec

The size of the ANC’s staff will also be examined, as the party argues that having an excess amount of staff will not necessarily lead to better capacity.

12:10:02 am - Thu 20 Dec

Makhura: Besides academic qualifications and experience, our deployed cadres must also be well versed in the philosophy of the organisation, so that they know what we are broadly trying to achieve.

12:08:24 am - Thu 20 Dec

Makhura said the ANC proposes equipping all cadres with the relevant skills BEFORE being deployed to government.

12:01:51 am - Thu 20 Dec

“The ANC has to renew itself – we have no choice,” Gauteng ANC secretary David Makhura told journalists at the briefing.

12:00:52 am - Thu 20 Dec

Chief among the ANC’s strategy and tactics proposals will be to adequately reflect on the movement’s trajectory since 1994, in order to plan the correct course over the next 20 years.

11:53:51 pm - Wed 19 Dec

Good evening, comrades!

Nickolaus Bauer here again at the #Mangaung elective conference. Its plenary report back time and we’ve just had a briefing on the ANC’s strategy and tactics.

8:54:35 am - Wed 19 Dec

So… The ANC downplayed Kgalema Motlanthe’s decision to decline nomination to the ANC NEC. The ruling party says he is “not lost to the movement.”

8:52:08 am - Wed 19 Dec

Things wrapping up here with Trevor Manuel. He encourages all South Africans to make the NDP a reality.

“We must own the plan and make it happen.” NB

8:46:31 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel is a little shady about this immediate future and that of the National Planning Commission.
“We’ve got a five year term, no certainty of another. We’re meeting early in January to discuss some outstanding issues with the president.” NB

8:39:59 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel seems pretty encouraged by Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as ANC deputy president and what it means for the NDP.
“In spite of all of his other responsibilities, Cyril has made an exceptional amount of time for the NDP and I can only hope that this continues in his new role.” NB

8:37:35 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel: At the moment I have no place to go. Nobody wants me, so I guess South Africa is stuck with me. NB

8:36:47 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel gets a bit annoyed at James Steyn from the Beeld, who asks about corruption re: Nkandla.

“James, if you have any proof of corruption, why don’t you follow procedure and take it up with the relevant authorities? That’s the one problem I have with the media, not following correct procedure and simply writing about these things.” NB

8:33:53 am - Wed 19 Dec

Its question time now… While we’re waiting, have a look at some of the folk who declined nominations to the ANC NEC. NB

8:27:43 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel has some tough words for young entrepreneurs, says framework must remain challenging to enter the market to ensure quality.

“We can’t build an economy on ‘ag shame’, young entrepreneurs must earn their keep” NB

8:24:15 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel notes that agriculture is a tough sector to be in at the moment but that it doesn’t detract from the fact that it needs to transform.

“We must never shy away from the constitutional obligation to deal with land reform. But we must do it in a smart way” NB

8:22:39 am - Wed 19 Dec

Zapiro, as always, hits the nail on the head with his latest cartoon on Mangaung. NB

8:21:35 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel cracks a joke with Agri-SA president Johannes Moller.

“Hulle se n boer maak n plan – nou vra die boer vir my n plan” NB

8:13:13 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel: We need to understand as South Africans what we value. If we don’t feel South African there is no national interest. NB

8:10:15 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel: We have the technology there to educate our nation about their development and their needs, but our citizens don’t use it. NB

8:08:13 am - Wed 19 Dec

Its question time now…

What powers does the NDP have to decide what program gets implemented where in government?

What does the NDP regard as the definition of the “public interest”?

Does South Africa have the skills to implement this plan?

8:02:15 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel now asked about what plan there is for jobs within the NDP. He argues that jobs need to be created – but sustainable jobs.

“One sad thing in this country is how we’ve allowed to the manufacturing sector to be decimated.” NB

7:59:13 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel: We need in-service training for teachers to develop them, and of course incentives to make sure they remain in the profession. NB

7:57:50 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel going large on education here. Says teachers who have been in the game for 30 years are “ill-equipped” to deal with the modern day challenges of education.

7:54:21 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel: I think we as individuals must be accountable for our actions. Unions must explain why having a measure of accountability for the performance of teachers is wrong – and I don’t think they’ll have a leg to stand on. NB

7:52:26 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel argues that communities need to own their responsibility for building a better South Africa. Notes that rich communities provide the input that develops them further, while its basically impossible in poor communities, where there is little to no input. NB

7:47:35 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel decries the massive gulf between government departments. Notes that some make one feel like a “first world country” while others make you feel like you’re in medieval times. NB

7:45:52 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel says the NDP is not a government plan and the members of the planning commission don’t constitute a political party.

“This is a plan for all South Africans and we need to own it. From government departments to the people on the ground.” NB

7:42:11 am - Wed 19 Dec

Manuel says people need to realise the National Development Plan isn’t a plan for government, its a plan for South Africa.

“We need to energise our nation and get them excited about this plan. If you don’t have active citizens – you don’t have an active democracy.” NB

7:40:11 am - Wed 19 Dec

Good morning! Nickolaus Bauer here on day 4 at the Mangaung elective conference. Planning minister Trevor Manuel is addressing the progressive business forum at a business breakfast. He resigned from active ANC politics over the weekend, so he might just drop some pearls of wisdom in this, his first address as a non ANC NEC member.

7:14:04 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Now… Here’s a quick look at some notable nominees for the NEC

Ruth Bhengu
Obed Bapela
Nyami Booi
Lin Brown
Bheki Cele
Collins Chabane
Frank Chikane
Siyabonga Cwele
Rob Davies
Bathabile Dlamini
S’dumo Dlamini
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Ayanda Dlodlo
Tony Ehrenreich
Nceba Faku
Malusi Gigaba
Enoch Godongwana
Pravin Gordhan
Derek Hanekom
Tina Joemat-Pettersson
Pallo Jordan
Pinky Kekana
Keith Khoza
Andile Lungisa
Brigette Mabandla
Pule Mabe
Ace Magashule
Buti Manamela
Winnie Mandela
Solly Mapaila
Kebby Mapatsoe
Billy Masetlha
Paul Mashatile
Sam Mashinini
David Masondo
Amos Masondo
Cassel Mathale
Fikile Mbalula
Tito Mboweni
Nomaindia Mfeketo
Humphrey Memezi
Nomvula Mokonyane
Edna Molewa
Magdalene Moonsamy
Abner Mosaase
Angie Motshekga
Mathole Motshekga
Jackson Mthembu
Nathi Mthethwa
Stella Ndabeni
S’bu Ndebele
Joel Netshitenzhe
Maite Mashabana
Gugile Nkwinti
Thulas Nxesi
Siphiwe Nyanda
Blade Nzimande
Mildred Oliphant
Max Ozinsky
Naledi Pandor
Ibrahim Patel
Dipuo Peters
Joe Phaahla
Dina Pule
Jeff Radebe
Ibrahim Rasool
Susan Shabangu
Lindiwe Sisulu
Max Sisulu
Zola Skweyiya
Barbara Thompson
Vuyiswa Tulelo
Sue van der Merwe
Annelise van Wyk
Tony Yengeni
Senzeni Zokwana
Lindiwe Zulu

6:58:37 pm - Tue 18 Dec

We’re arriving a little late to this… And we’re now into comrades that have declined their nominations.

In alphabetical order we have:

Frans Baleni

John Block

Jeremy Cronin

Jay Naidoo

Irvin Jim

Mac Maharaj

Trevor Manuel

Ayanda Matiti

Faith Mazibuko

Kgalema Motlanthe

Vali Moosa

Peggy Nkonyeni

Febe Potgieter-Qubile

Zwelinzima Vavi

6:55:44 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Sanibonani nonke!!!

Nickolaus Bauer here again, back at the main marquee for another plenary session. This time its for NEC nominations and we’re told there are 250 in total. Only 80 spaces are available on the NEC and 40 (50%) need to be women.

1:55:15 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Just ran into Lindiwe Sisulu on my way to the media centre. She tells me former president Nelson Mandela is doing ok.

“I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t doing well. We was in hospital, it took sometime to find out exactly what was wrong, but he really is doing just fine.”

1:16:23 pm - Tue 18 Dec

We are told the new ANC top 6 leadership will be brought down to address the media soon. Time to hit the road. NB

1:14:36 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Check out the Mail & Guardian’s profile of the newly elected leadership of the ANC.

1:06:21 pm - Tue 18 Dec

ANC chaplain is up on stage offering a blessing to the Mangaung election results.

“We ask you to bless these leaders who will take us forward for the next five years! Bless my lord, my brother Jacob! Bless my lord, my brother Cyril! Bless my lord, my sister Baleka! Bless my lord, my brother Gwede! Bless my lord, my sister Jessie! And bless my lord, my brother Zweli!”

1:03:30 pm - Tue 18 Dec

The full Zuma slate scores a resounding victory at Mangaung. No big surprise really, based on the overwhelming support they received heading into this conference. The big question now will be what will happen to the losers who still occupy senior positions in government. Will deputy president Motlanthe, human settlements minister Sexwale and North West premier Thandi Modise remain in their jobs come 2013?
NB

12:57:05 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Zweli Mkhize is elected as ANC treasurer-general, scoring 2988 votes to Paul Mashatile’s 961. NB

12:55:40 pm - Tue 18 Dec

The final announcement os of ANC treasurer general. Delegates remain in a jubilant mood and have to be called to order several times. NB

12:53:34 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Up next is the announcement of Jessie Duarte as deputy secretary-general. She was elected unopposed. NB

12:52:23 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Gwede Mantashe gets returned as secretary-general of the ANC, beating Fikile Mbalula with 3058 votes to 901. NB

12:50:57 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Nupen hands over Bontle Phakanyana (apologies spelling) to read out the remaining results. Secretary-general up next. NB

12:46:59 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Baleka Mbete is retained as ANC national chairperson after defeating Thandi Modise by 3010 votes to 939. NB

12:45:47 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Ramaphosa takes his seat next to Zuma, he receives a loud cheer from the crowd. Nupen moves onto chairsperson. NB

12:42:48 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Cyril Ramaphosa trounces Matthews Phosa and Tokyo Sexwale to become ANC deputy president with 3018 votes to 470 & 463 votes respectively NB

12:40:04 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Nupen struggles to bring delegates under control.

“Comrades! Please sit down! We have a lot of work to do!”

Delegates take no notice. They eventually quieten down. Onto deputy president. NB

12:37:10 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Zuma scores a resounding victory over Motlanthe, winning by 2986 to 991. Delegates in the marquee explode into celebration NB

12:35:24 pm - Tue 18 Dec

ANC electoral presiding officer Dren Nupen takes to the mic. She says 3977 votes were casts. She will begin with he announcement of president. NB

12:32:02 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Journalists have just raced into the main marquee. We are welcomed by the majority of delegates singing about a “Zumantashe” victory. Mochubela Seekoe, chairman of the ANC electoral commission starts caling delegates to order before results are announced.
NB

12:24:28 pm - Tue 18 Dec

Zuma supporters outside the main marquee singing songs about their leader’s victory.
In the meantime journalists are wilting under the sun waiting to enter and hear the results we already know.
Its a Zuma victory, for both him and all aligned to Msholozi.
All that’s left is for them pop the champagne. NB

12:11:15 pm - Tue 18 Dec

And we’re back!

Nickolaus Bauer here under the baking sun outside the main plenary marquee ahead of the official announcement of results from elections for the top 6 posts at the ANC’s Mangaung elective conference.

11:27:57 am - Tue 18 Dec

Radebe says ANC welcomes judgement as it was clear it didn’t affect Free State or possibly North West delegates.

The ruling party did take precautions though, and colour coded voting ballots were provided to delegates from the two provinces. This was a precaution in case the judgment called for their exclusion.

11:21:37 am - Tue 18 Dec

Jeff Radebe now addressing the presser. Going through the constitutional court order preventing Free State delegates from attending Mangaung. NB

11:17:00 am - Tue 18 Dec

Mantashe starts the briefing. Says results for the top 6 elections will be announced at midday and further nominations for NEC members will take place at 5pm.

11:15:48 am - Tue 18 Dec

Nickolaus Bauer here again…

The ANC has just called an unexopected press conference. Gwede Mantashe, Jeff Radebe and Andries Nel in attendance.

7:49:18 am - Tue 18 Dec

Sanibonani nonke!!!

Nickolaus Bauer here on day three of action at the ANC Mangaung elective conference.

Delegates are still voting this morning, but I have started my day at another Progressive Businss Forum breakfast. Economic development mininster Ebrahim Patel addressing the gathering.

2:08:49 pm - Mon 17 Dec

To recap the nominees:

President: Jacob Zuma & Kgalema Motlanthe

Deputy President: Matthews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale & Cyril Ramaphosa

Secretary-General: Gwede Mantashe & Fikile Mbalula

Deputy Secretary-General: Jessie Duarte (uncontested)

Chairperson: Baleka Mbete & Thandi Modise

Treasurer-general: Paul Mashatile and Zweli Mkhize

2:04:38 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Lastly we have the nominees for treasurer-general. Paul Mashatile, Tokyo Sexwale, Zweli Mkhize & Lindiwe Sisulu. Sisulu declined her position ahead of the process. Then… Cue something truly interesting. Mashatile jumped up to supposedly decline his nomination, but Sexwale beat him to it.

“No thanks chair, I can’t count the money,” Sexwale said.

Mashatile looked a bit puzzled and left the mic. He returned to his seat – next to Cyril Ramphosa.

NB

2:00:31 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Nominations now move to deputy secretary-general. Fikile Mbalula and Febe Potgieter both declined their nominations, which left Thandi Modise to square up against Jessie Duarte. But Modise steps up to a mic and declines her nomination. Duarte will win the position – uncontested.

1:57:41 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Now for secretary-general. Only two nominees: Gwede Mantashe and Fikile Mbalula. Both receive a warm applause from delegates. This might be a hotly contested position. NB

1:55:57 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Up next is nominee for national chairperson. Baleka Mbete, Ace Magashule, Thandi Modise and Tenjiwe Dlala all nominated. Magashule and Dlala both withdraw. Mbete receives the loudest cheer. NB

1:54:07 pm - Mon 17 Dec

SHOCK HORROR: Kgalema Motlanthe withdraws his candidacy for deputy president of the ANC. It could easily translate into his political suicide.

1:52:30 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Baleka Mbete was nominated as deputy, but she declined. Officials read out Kgalema Motlanthe, Matthews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa.

All receive a half hearted responses, except for Cyril, he receives a hearty applause just like Zuma.

1:50:13 pm - Mon 17 Dec

The floor is opened up for further nominations. A Limpopo delegate disputes the process, saying non-voting delegates shouldn’t be in the marquee. His argument is dismissed. Onto deputy presidential candidates.

1:47:19 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Nominations are a go. They start with presidential nominations and read out Kgalema Motlanthe’s nomination. He receives a rather muted applause. When Jacob Zuma’s name is read out the marquee erupts in a hearty roar.

1:44:40 pm - Mon 17 Dec

25% of all delegates are needed to ratify any nomination from the floor. In terms of attendees at Manguang, this equates to 1019 delegates.

1:43:03 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Its almost nomination time now. Provincial monitors ahead up to stage to get the process going. They too start running through some terms & conditions.

1:39:37 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Deputy electoral chairperson Sophie de Bruyn is now on the mic and explaining further terms and conditions to the voting process at Mangaung.

She runs through the nitty-gritty like: No racism, no tribalism, no prejudice, no bribing delegates, no intimidation etc.

Delegates are listening attentively, some even fanning their faces with spanish fans drenched in ANC insignia.

1:34:17 pm - Mon 17 Dec

It might must be me, but it is WAY HOTTER inside this marquee than yesterday. Fans whirring like mad all over the marquee but the heat remains stifling. People wave magazines, their accreditation cards, empty packets notebooks and just about anything they can get their hands on in an attempt to ward off the heat.
Sweat continues to pour out of every orifice.

An ice cold beer. My kingdom for an ice cold beer. NB

1:26:06 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Here’s a little more info on the ANC electoral process.

If a candidate contests to become president as well as deputy president – like Kgalema Motlanthe, the vote for president would take place first and determine if the vote for deputy would take place.

This could see Motlanthe being returned to the deputy presidency if he loses against Jacob Zuma in the battle to become ANC president.

But this would be unlikely if business mogul Cyril Ramaphosa accepts his nomination for the post after having received close to 2 000 provincial branch nominations.

Only the Northern Cape has nominated Motlanthe for deputy.

Until now only Matthews Phosa confirmed his acceptance of his nomination, despite nominations not being formally tabled yet.

Phosa was nominated as deputy president after receiving backing from the ANC Youth League and over 300 branch nominations.

But the commission said they have no issue with candidates announcing their nominations before the nomination process is finalised.

1:20:59 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Seekoe reiterates that any candidate up for multiple positions in the top leadership of the ANC will be eligible and separate ballot papers will be distributed.

1:15:56 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Seekoe running through the rules of voting at Mangaung.

“Your vote remains secret and delegates cannot be influenced by others. Delegates are also not bound by any nomination from provinces or nationally. They cannot even be influenced by a list that is circulating.”

1:10:41 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Seekoe: Now that the NEC and top 6 have left the stage, the electoral commission is in charge now. NB

1:09:27 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Its a fact that a big chunk of this outgoing NEC won’t return when the new group is elected in Mangaung. One of those is minister Trevor Manuel – He quit active ANC politics earlier this week. His exit from stage is his final act as ANC NEC member. NB

1:07:39 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Electoral commission chairperson Mochubela Seekoe welcomes delegates and thanks the outgoing NEC. The 80 member group get up and start walking off stage. Some look solemn, other looks happy and there’s a couple looking downright glum.

1:04:56 pm - Mon 17 Dec

Sanibonani comrades! Nickolaus Bauer here, back at the coalface of the Mangaung ANC elective conference. Up next is the official announcement of nominations. The ANC electoral commission is up on stage and its stifingly hot in the marquee. Sweat pouring from the brow of journalists and delegates alike.

8:17:43 am - Mon 17 Dec

In case you missed Jacob Zuma’s political report yesterday, have a look at this expert analysis by our politics editor Rapule Tabane.

Confident Zuma wins the day

8:04:58 am - Mon 17 Dec

Back at the PBF breakfast, Nhlanhla Nene has made special mention of the National Development Plan (NDP) and the importance of its implementation.

President Jacob Zuma also dedicated a large part of his political report yesterday to the NDP. The president said its imperitaive the plan is rolled out.

Could this be a sign that 2013 will be the year of the NDP?

Well, that is, if Zuma is re-elected?

And what about the brains behind the NDP, Trevor Manuel?

Will his resignation from active ANC politics affect the plan’s future?

7:56:18 am - Mon 17 Dec

Understandably, security has been very tight at the conference, with police and ANC personnel taking no chances.

Other big news from yesterday, is the letter expelled ANC youth league president Julius Malema sent to ruling party.

In the correspondence, Malema demands to be reinstated by the ANC.

Based on Gwede Mantashe’s stinging rebuke on the league yesterday during the delivery of his organisational report, this doesn’t look likely though.

7:48:43 am - Mon 17 Dec

The big news overnight is the delaying of nominations for the top 6 positions in the ANC, due to a discrepancy over delegate accreditation.

But, a big surprise as everyone woke up this morning has to be the arrest of 7 right wingers who’d allegedly planned to blow up one of the big plenary tents at the conference.

The hawks swooped on the group during raids in Limpopo, the Northern Cape and the Free State.

7:42:06 am - Mon 17 Dec

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to day two of proceedings at the ANC Mangaung elective conference. Nickolaus Bauer here at the Progressive Business Forum’s breakfast with deputy finance minister Nhlanhla Nene – a late replacement for his boss Pravin Gordhan.

8:31:30 pm - Sun 16 Dec

A few thoughts from some high profile editors and thinkers about today’s proceedings, sa tweeted on their accounts:

Business Day editor Peter Bruce:

‏Is #Zuma renewing himself in this very sensible speech or does he hit the default button when it’s all over? #mangaung

City Press editor Ferial Haffajee: #Mangaung. Great tent, nice shirts, good bags – ANC conference reflects power and rising prosperity. #storieswedonttell

Polokwane had already erupted in rebellion by this point. JZ’s got it sown up. Political report, thus far, is an inward-looking document.

Mail & Guardian editor Nic Dawes:

Trevor Manuel’s National Development Plan heavily punted by JZ. Worth noting that Ramaphosa is deputy chair of the commission that wrote it.

Political analyst Eusebius McKaiser:

What is our plan about the plan about the national plan? Asks JZ. Problem: meta-narratives don’t help the poor, Sir.

- VP

8:19:53 pm - Sun 16 Dec

It may be 8pm but today’s programme at Mangaung still has some way to go. Gwede has wrapped up his extremely long organisational report, and then delegates have more to sit through: A credentials report, then supper and then among other items a financial report, constitutional amendments and, the exciting bit for us, election nominations. But give the time allocated for all these in the original program, they coud be busy till midnight. We won’t be able to update you for the the rest as most of those sessions are close to journalists. – VP

8:04:35 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe finishes his address. A total of 2 hours and 16 minutes. The man’s got some stamina. His voice didn’t crack once. He merrily steps back to his seat when he finishes. The delegates are not so lucky though. They wearily get to their feet and give him a standing ovation.

8:01:42 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe handles the 2009 ANC election performance. He concedes that a certain level of the electorate was lost, but lays the blame mostly on Cope’s doorstep.

“You’ll see that our lost support most correlates with the support gained for Cope when they were formed – mostly by former ANC members.”

7:55:58 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe has to encourage delegates to pay attention now that he’ speech is about to enter its third hour.

“Don’t worry comrades, I am almost done.”

7:53:33 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe is moving from the league’s to the tripartite alliance. He piles a lot of praise on the SACP, but Cosatu get more or less the same treatment as the youth league.
The SG berates the union federation for not constructively engaging during disputes. Says they sometimes remind him of an opposition party.

If you add this to what Zuma said in his political report, its a far harder line on the federation’s function in the alliance.

Are we to expect a tougher approach from Zuma et al should they get re-elected, I wonder?

7:44:07 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe slams the youth league and their troubled past. He touches on Malema’s expulsion and maintains the unruly voice in the youth league was given numerous chances to come to order, but didn’t.

“We hope going forward our relationship will improve.”

7:42:24 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe’s speech has arrived at his critique of the ANC league structures.

He has kind words for the Veterans’ league, calls on their ranks to swell as “your experience is need.”

The SG has even kinder words for the Womens’ league, asks them to conitinue their “fine work.”

But, the youth league are not so lucky.

7:26:38 pm - Sun 16 Dec

ANC members beginning to tire, 90 minutes into Gwede Mantashe's organisational report.

7:23:36 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe speech is not 90 minutes in. Comrade delegates beginning to tire. A lot are stretching and yawning. Some are even sleeping, their heads on the desks in front of them. NB

7:10:54 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Here is the full story on Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to contest for the post of deputy president. He will face Matthews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale and the incumbent Kgalema Motlanthe.

7:07:38 pm - Sun 16 Dec

ANC treasurer-general Matthews Phosa has just stepped up and moved to the back of the stage to talk to Jackson Mthembu. It seems to be a heated discussion. Oh… To be a fly on the wall! NB

6:57:25 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Lots of coverage in various publications, as well as social media reaction to news of Trevor Manuel’s departure from active politics. In an interview yesterday he said the decision came to him while doing a speech for yours truly, the Mail & Guardian, at our 200 Young South Africans event earlier this year. He said he realised he needed to make way for younger people.

“I spoke this year at the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans event and took a decision as a matter of principle. It is time for young people to come through the system. I want to try to mentor. I feel there’s a duty to do that now.

“If everything is a competition, you destroy values (as is being done now). If this happens, you cannot draw on the skills and expertise (of people who leave after brutal competition). This was clear at Polokwane,” he said.

Read the rest of the article here, and watch the video with some of South Africa’s young leaders at our 200 Young South Africans event who inspired Manuel to make his decision, along with his speech. “Elected leaders hate to hand over power,” he said, but noted we needed a real generational mix. “Age cannot be the only criteria.”

http://ysa2012.mg.co.za/

6:52:19 pm - Sun 16 Dec

The ANC electoral commission has just stepped into the marquee, being led by stalwart Andrew Mlangeni. Their age is really striking. Almost all walk with an aid of a crutch or walking stick. They are all wrinkled and gray. is this a pre-requisite, I wonder? Are the elderly not interested in competition or jockeying for competition, and thus less susceptible to horse-trading? NB

6:49:14 pm - Sun 16 Dec

The marshals return. No blood on their hands and their berets look untouched. No idea what caused the commotion, but that comrade doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.

6:44:34 pm - Sun 16 Dec

There’s a bit of a ruckus at the back of the main marquee. A number of marshals have moved towards the disturbance to investigate. I wonder… Which counter-revolutionary dare cause a disturbance during SG’s speech? NB

6:42:39 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe’s speech has hall the highlights of a man hoping to retain his job. Talks up all of his organisation’s successes and glosses over their failures by labelling them challenges. NB

6:41:22 pm - Sun 16 Dec

In related news, the terms “ANC”, “Zuma”, and “Mangaung” are all trending on Twitter in South Africa. As is controversial musician Chris Brown and a related hashtag: #ThingsLongerThanCBConcert. But we’ll refrain from drawing the obvious parallels. Let’s hope South Africans aren’t tired of hearing about the ANC’s conference yet. Several more days to go. – Verashni Pillay

6:40:16 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe: We were criticised for having a debate on nationalisation. We were told it was hurting our economy. But, at least that conversation, brought it to our attention that the areas around all these mines remain in abject poverty – in spite of the rich minerals below the ground. NB

6:37:35 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Despite basically celebrating Malema’s ousting from the ANC earlier in his speech, Mantashe just tipped his hat to the league and Malema’s push for the nationalisation of mines.

6:25:33 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe returning his attention to “internal saboteurs.”

He slams ANC members who not criticise the ANC and “plot its demise.”

“Comrades, you can’t have a members who says the ANC will lose the 2014 election if they don’t do this or that. They are writing the ANC’s own failures and helping us to fail.”

6:18:35 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe now slamming assertions that crisis epxerienced under the ANC “are worse than apartheid.”

Basically, he paints the picture of those partcilcularly critics being borderline delusional.

“How can you say we are worse off than in apartheid? Just because we can’t deliver textbooks on time in Limpopo, we are worse than apartheid. You’ll sind something different in Limopopo as compared to apartheid times – its called a teacher (teaching black children)”

6:14:42 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma supporters during the ANC 53rd National Conference in Mangaung, Free State (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)

6:14:21 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Looking around the main marquee, there is a decent smattering of all different types of South Africans among the delegates. More so than the Democratic Alliance I would say. NB

6:09:57 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe is painstakingly reiterating that ill-discipline has no place in the ANC. He alludes to the Malema issue, but doesn’t mention Juju by name.

“We have learnt that ANC members who wan’t to conduct themselves the way they want, find they have not place in the party.”

5:59:00 pm - Sun 16 Dec

So… Nominations will only OFFICIALLY be announced tomorrow ahead of voting. But, we’ve learnt that businessman Cyril Ramaphosa HAS ACCEPTED his nomination for ANC deputy president.

5:53:18 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe: Our attempts to bring the ANC youth league back into the fold are beginning to bear fruit.

Mhmmm, so long Julius. NB

5:52:03 pm - Sun 16 Dec

The SG has now got a few choice words for the ANC youth league. Says they have operated in opposition to the ANC for too long. He warns they need to fall in line.

5:51:00 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe now talking alliance relations and firing veiled shots at Vavi.

“When an alliance partner attacks the ANC, its worse than all of the opposition parties combined. We need to address all matters and problems internally.”

5:48:51 pm - Sun 16 Dec

All delegates listening quite attentively to Mantashe. He’s commanding his audience like a master.
Still bloody hot in here though. People mostly not reading Mantashe’s report, but rather using it as a fan.

5:46:54 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe: We had to move quickly to fill the spaces that were left when everybody left, to make sure we kept up with all of the work of state. NB

5:46:09 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe laments the fact Zuma was quickly re-charged with corruption so soon after Polokwane.
The SG then glosses over Mbeki’s dismissal and resultant mass exodus from government.

5:44:18 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mantashe says the ANC was “very polarised” and “divided” come end of Polokwane and had to weather some “challenges.”

5:42:38 pm - Sun 16 Dec

SANIBONANI! Nickolaus Bauer here agan…
After a bit of a lunch break, we’re back inside the main marquee for the delivery of Gwede Mantashe’s organisational report.
He’s off on a bit of a history lesson, telling delegates what’s happened since the Polokwane conference.

3:30:48 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Overwhelming support for Zuma at the 53rd National ANC conference. Jacob Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe. (Madelene Cronje, M&G)

2:41:12 pm - Sun 16 Dec

It means: “We’ve got a long road to lead, so said Mandela”

2:40:04 pm - Sun 16 Dec

After a spirited “Amandla”, Zuma leads conference in song.
No. Its not “Umshini Wami” its his new tune:

“Inde indlela Esihambayo, wathi Mandela!”

NB

2:34:08 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: Comrades, the future of our revolution and of our country is in our hands, and we must carry forward the work needed for the social and economic emancipation of our people.

We need to prepare ourselves for this journey, starting today, towards
socio-economic freedom for all our people.

I now declare the 53rd National Conference open!’

2:32:38 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma drawing to a close now. Running through the hosting of various events that boosted SA’s international image. ie 2010 world cup, COP 17 and International Youth Conference. NB

2:31:02 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma heads to international relations. Says the ANC has done well, from a practical point of view, in implementing Polokwane congress resolutions on foreign affairs. NB

2:26:43 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says SA is close to gender parity in the public sector.

“The ANC government is steadily improving the position of women in public
office and is moving towards 50-50 parity in the holding of leadership
public positions.”

2:25:09 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We have more people on treatment, we have reduced the rate of mother to
child transmission of the virus by half, and over 20 million people have
been tested for HIV, voluntarily. NB

2:24:48 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma moves on to achievements in health.

2:22:15 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma even has time to make note of the country’s fight against rhino poaching. Says more needs to be done to stop the poaching completely. NB

2:19:22 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma spends significant time on corruption. Argues South Africa is a “transparent” societyy in its fight on corruption, but argues for more to be done. NB

2:18:28 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: This conference must have a look at how the tender system works. It is often abused. NB

2:17:33 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma turns from education to corruption.

2:16:51 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says the Limpopo textbook saga is “an occurrence which should never happen again.” NB

2:16:13 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma also argues teachers need to start taking pride in their word. Says they should stop coming to work in “t-shirts & takkies.”

2:15:14 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says he will work towards bringing inspectors back into schools, to ensure teachers are doing their work. NB

2:13:28 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says a firm basis needs to be made in South Africa’s aproach to basic eduction.
“Without a firm basis, the house will fall.” NB

2:11:49 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma argues SA faced with a massive challenge of addressing apartheid’s legacy left on educatino. NB

2:10:45 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma breaks from speech now. Making a point on government’s approach to education. NB

2:09:40 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: Over 9m children now receive free schooling. NB

2:09:16 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma now turns to SA’s achievements in education and health.

2:07:46 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: A critical task for Mangaung is to take the Polokwane resolution forward that called on the ANC to lead all South Africans in working together. NB

2:06:07 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The public sector can’t work along in providing sustained growth. All sectors of society must work together. We must create a plan that inspires all to put their shoulder to the wheel and work towards a better South Africa. NB

2:04:52 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The challenges we face in terms of inequality and poverty are not foreign, but made here. We must intensify our structuring of our economy so that the wealth of this country is shared equally among all. NB

2:00:53 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We are in the process of re-organising the Broad-Based-Black-Economic-Empowerment plan to see more inclusive growth of enterprise. NB

2:00:32 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Gwede Mantashe greeting president Jacob Zuma after Zuma arrived during the ANC 53rd National Conference in Mangaung, Free State.  (Oupa Nkosi. M&G)

1:58:38 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Useful blog post from Zubeida Jaffer outlining the strategy around Cyril Ramaphosa’s nomination and capturing the rationale that the Zuma lobbyists have been presenting to potential supporters – essentially that Ramaphosa will be running the country the way Mbeki did when he was Mandela’s deputy. http://whatsupanc.blogspot.com/2012/12/by-zubeida-jaffer-normal.html Nic Dawes

1:57:47 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We are heading towards a develelopment state. One that will combine all facets of our economy. NB

1:55:03 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma argues more needs to be done to bring about equality. Decries the fact the average black household income is at R60k, while the average household income for a white family is R360k. NB

1:52:57 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: Having a long term plan and blueprint is a sign we know where we are going, and how we will get there. NB

1:51:33 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: Unfortunatley, when the NDP was delivered, we had a number of programs already in place – such as the New Growth Path. Our task is to see how we can marry all of these together. NB

1:50:31 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We should announce at the end of our conference, what is the plan about our plan. How should we implement it. How should government put this in action. NB

1:48:20 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The coming into action of the National Development Plan is critical to our country’s future development. NB

1:47:23 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma now turns to the National Development Plan. Lauds their work. NB

1:45:38 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We have done much, but we can do far more. NB

1:45:08 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma is detailing how the general performance of government has improved since Polokwane. Says ID books are received sooner after application. Social grants are easier to access. Police are responding to more calls in the fight against crime. NB

1:42:45 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says the need to restructure some and create new government departments was born out the desire to respond better to the needs of the people.

1:41:03 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma explaining how he remodelled government post Polokwane.

1:37:06 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: If we don’t talk to our people,if we don’t interact with them, they will understand things in a different way. They will act on their own. NB

1:35:45 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: It is important for the ANC to remain in contact with the masses of our people. If there is no service delivery, we must explain why. NB

1:34:38 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The fact that we didn’t respond to the needs of the people at Marikana is an indication were weren’t aware of their challenges. We were not there, and that’s an indictment. NB

1:33:42 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma criticises how Marikana was handled. NB

1:32:54 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma now turns to the Marikana “tragedy”

1:32:06 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We need a cadre that will help run government properly. And that cadre must be politically aware. He must be certain and know that government isn’t a vehicle for self-enrichement. NB

1:30:16 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says the type of cadre needed by the ANC is different than the one needed in the struggle. NB

1:29:23 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: So when we have a disagreement, there is a certain way to act. No need to act like you are in an opposition party. NB

1:27:58 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: What we implement in government is a collective effort of the tripartite alliance. We are always together. NB

1:26:47 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We are not in opposition with each other. Members of the tripartite alliance must engage constructively. NB

1:26:01 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says the tripartite alliance needs to work together to bring bout positive change in South Africa. NB

1:23:47 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We have stated at the National General Council and we will say it again: The leagues are extensions of the ANC and are subject to discipline by the ANC. NB

1:22:50 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The renewal and rebuilding of the ANC also involves the use of language by our movement and our leagues – which are in partnership with the ANC. NB

1:21:47 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The incoming NEC needs to prioritise political education. NB

1:20:53 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: This has even led to the foreign tendency of members being paid money for their support. We must never allow those with money to turn ANC members into commodities. NB

1:20:14 pm - Sun 16 Dec

1:19:50 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma decries the violence that has marred some ANC branch campaign. NB

1:19:05 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: This disunity has led to factions, working against each other. It leads to negative campaigning. It leads to rumour mongering. It brings the ANC into disrepute.

1:17:45 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says this disunity at branch level must be eradicated.

1:16:37 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma concedes there are still “pockets” of disunity, factionalism and tribalism at branch level in the ANC. NB

1:15:42 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The ANC was very divided going to Polokwane. That is why we had to work on unity. NB

1:14:35 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The Polokwane placed the ANC as a centre of power. A centre of power for the party and state. It affirmed that the power of the ANC lies in the branches. NB

1:13:27 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: We have learnt along the way that the ANC is far bigger than we think. The ANC is loved by a lot of people. People who want progressive change. NB

1:12:28 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says the greatest achievement of the ANC centenary celebrations was to unite the organisation. NB

1:11:13 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Winnie Madikizela- Mandela chatting to Jeff Radebe during the ANC 53rd National Conference in Mangaung, Free State. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)

1:10:45 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma sends best wishes to Mandela.
“Madiba is in a hospital in Pretoria, under the care of the best doctors. We wish him well, and a speedy recovery.”

1:09:35 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma: The ANC remains popular with the masses of our people. Not only to follow it, but to join the movement. NB

1:08:45 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says there were 416k in 2003 at Stellenbosch. 620k in 2007 in Polokwane. And now in Mangaung the ANC has over 1,2m members.

1:07:49 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma says the directive of the 1942 ANC elective conference has been met. The ruling party now has over a million members. NB

1:06:33 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma runs through the regular protocol of introductions. Makes special mention of the families of previous ANC presidents. NB

1:04:56 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma finishes singing. Crowd cheers. They sit down. He fiddles with his glasses. Its speech time. NB

1:04:24 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma dancing. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)

1:03:43 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma doing well, leading the war cry. Intersperses his singing with some dancing. Everytime he springs into action, the crowd cheers a little more. NB

1:00:06 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma leads delegates in singing “Inde’ Lindlela eSiHambayo!” (Its a long road that we are leading!)

Doesn’t quite have the same gravitas as his normal rendition of “Umshini wami” but quite well received, nonetheless.

12:57:24 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma is on the mic. Kicks things off with a spirited cry of “AMANDLA!”

Its met with an equally powerful “AWETHU!”

12:55:46 pm - Sun 16 Dec

12:55:15 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete wraps things up. Calls Zuma to stage. Time for the big man to speak. NB

12:54:44 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Johnson Mukwevho, another Limpopo branch delegate, argues for the program to be adopted as is. Majority of delegates cheer in agreement.

12:52:56 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Another Limpopo delegate makes their way to the stage. More objections on the way?

12:51:44 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete swats away Ngubane’s suggestion. Argues that he doesn’t have relevant standing to argue for Limpopo. Objection dismissed. NB

12:50:05 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Ngubane asks for the program to be debated to “be consistent with the ANC constitution.” NB

12:48:54 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Ngubane says the political report by Zuma as well as the organisational report by Gwede Mantashe should be opened for debate and ratification – as per the ANC constitution. NB

12:47:47 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete thought there were no objections to the program. But, Derek Ngubane from Limpopo has brought an objection to the table. NB

12:45:25 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete now going through program. Seeing if there are any objections. NB

12:44:08 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Standing up for the national anthem, one really gets an idea for how many people are crammed into this marquee. Easily 5000 in here. NB

12:38:33 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete back on the mic. Calls on delegates to rise for the singing of the national anthem. NB

12:36:49 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Chaplain ends his address with a spirited:

VIVA GOD!

12:35:57 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Chaplain: Pour peace on this congress. Let it not denigrate into something that it is not. NB

12:34:34 pm - Sun 16 Dec

ANC chaplain calls on the lord to grant delegates courage and wisdom, so that they may choose the path that will lead to prosperity for all South Africans.

12:33:28 pm - Sun 16 Dec

The conference is now led in an interfaith prayer.

12:31:07 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Religious leaders have remained largely apolitical with their addresses. The good reverend strays a bit. He asks God to guide the delegates at the Mangaung conference, so that they may give the ANC another 100 years.

12:29:32 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Next up is a pastor from the Bantu Christian church. NB

12:27:25 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Now an Imam takes to the stage. He addresses the conference in Arabic.

12:25:46 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Next up to bless the conference is chief rabbi Warren Goldstein.

12:24:41 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete calls on the ANC’s chaplain to bless the Mangaung conference. Heads are bowed. He leads delegates in prayer. Starting in Latin. NB

12:23:00 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete: We are going to have a very orderly conference. I know this is unanimous.

12:19:45 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma enters the hall. He falls in line with the top 6 leadership. The crowd goes absolutely wild. NB

12:18:50 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Mbete: I’d like you to all start settling down, the president is about to join us.
Delegates: uZUMA!!! uZUMA!!!

12:16:26 pm - Sun 16 Dec

ANC chairperson Baleka Mbete call everyone to order. Apologises profusely for the delay. NB

12:14:07 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Things are beginning to come to order. Zuma must be close. He’s only 3 hours late. NB

12:11:11 pm - Sun 16 Dec

An official just muttered something about the first ladies being on their way. Hopefully that means that Zuma himself is near. Delegates getting slightly restless. NB

12:05:19 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Free State and Limpopo Zuma supporters sing to each other.
“Its no problem when (Cassel) Mathale is gone! Zuma will be here!”

12:03:00 pm - Sun 16 Dec

Still no sign of Zuma on stage. Media contingent now flanked on our right by Zuma supporters from the Free State. NB

11:56:13 am - Sun 16 Dec

Supporters behind us shouting “uZumantashe! uZumantashe!”

11:54:44 am - Sun 16 Dec

There was a minor discrepancy over how many media were to be seated in front of the stage. We’re in now, sandwiched between the stage and some spirited Zuma supporters.

11:45:33 am - Sun 16 Dec

Sanibonani! Nickolaus Bauer here again. This time live from the main marquee ahead of Jacob Zuma’s delivery of the ANC political report at Mangaung.

10:00:15 am - Sun 16 Dec

Jacob Zuma, Kgalema Motlanthe and Mathews Phosa. (Madelene Cronjé, M&G)

9:55:31 am - Sun 16 Dec

Motlanthe supporters are rolling their fingers over each other, the football sign for substitution. NB

9:54:14 am - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma supporters a thrusting a 2 finger peace sign into the air, indicating a second term.

9:53:28 am - Sun 16 Dec

There’s some gentle campaigning going on. Struggle songs & dancing. Finger gestures indicating their rival support. NB

9:51:02 am - Sun 16 Dec

Nickolaus Bauer here again…

Delegates have started queuing to enter the hall where President Jacob Zuma will deliver his political report.

9:22:51 am - Sun 16 Dec

Sisulu offers me a look that blatantly tells me she’s not ready for interviews or a chat. Point taken. Time to file. NB

9:01:11 am - Sun 16 Dec

Davies interaction draws to a close. I’ve now noticed a few bigwigs in the room. One being Lindiwe Sisulu. Door-Stop time. NB

8:57:09 am - Sun 16 Dec

“We haven’t a snow ball’s chance if we are thinking about competing with the sweatshops of this world. We just can’t. As we have seen in the past year, that is the reality of Marikana, that is the de Doorns of this world. We simply don’t want to head in that direction.”

8:55:17 am - Sun 16 Dec

Davies also dismisses the idea of structural changes to labour and industrial relations in South Africa.

8:54:13 am - Sun 16 Dec

Davies addresses questions in a rather round about way. Says the real importance doesn’t lie in added tariffs on cheap imports.

“We should look at what value we can add to our products, before they leave our shores.”

8:50:48 am - Sun 16 Dec

More questions for Davies now.

Gets asked:

Are labour relations needed to change, to make it easier to hire & fire.

How are the rising costs of electricity going to affect SA economic growth going forward?

Will there be further tariffs on cheap imports to safeguard local industries?

8:46:53 am - Sun 16 Dec

Rob Davies argues that while agricultural rural development is key to South Africa’s economic growth, its not the only factor.

8:43:18 am - Sun 16 Dec

Just to clarify: Nic Dawes is outside where delegates are gathering ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s address later this morning. Nickolaus Bauer is at the PBF breakfast with Rob Davies.

8:41:10 am - Sun 16 Dec

Davies finishes his formal address and is now fielding questions from the suited and booted businessman at the breakfast.

8:40:44 am - Sun 16 Dec

Zuma supporters during the ANC 53rd National Conference in Mangaung, Free State. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)

8:38:53 am - Sun 16 Dec

Delegates arriving: With around 80 percent of registration complete little knots of delegates are drifting across the quiet UFS campus to the plenary venue. – Nic Dawes

8:35:18 am - Sun 16 Dec

‘No country has ever enjoyed long term & sustained industrialisation without the support of industrial finance, not simply relying on private finance institutions’

8:33:01 am - Sun 16 Dec

Davies has given a lengthy address about the importance of South Africa’s industrialisation.

8:31:39 am - Sun 16 Dec

Good morning and welcome to the first official day of proceedings at the ANC’s Mangaung elective conference. Nickolaus Bauer here to feed you updates from the ruling party’s progressive business forum breakfast, which is being addressed by trade & industry minister Rob Davies.

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Cosatu national conference 2012

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Mail & Guardian

Cosatu’s national conference, which runs from 17 – 20 September 2012, is set to become a mini-Mangaung with one of its most vexing matters being whether or not to support Jacob Zuma’s campaign for re-election as ANC president. In addition, warring factions in the trade union federation are planning to field candidates to contest the positions of both its president, Sdumo Dlamini, and general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. The recent Marikana massacre, which resulted in the killing of 34 mine workers by police, will also take centre stage.

Follow the Mail & Guardian's liveblog for the latest updates from the conference.



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Middle East rages over Anti-Islam film

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Mail & Guardian

(AFP)

Protesters across the Middle East are furious at a California-made anti-Islam film. Attacks on US embassies in Libya and Egypt have spread to Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen. Follow the Mail & Guardian’s live blog.

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Mines in crisis

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Mail & Guardian

Tensions in South Africa’s mining sector, in particular the platinum belt, have reached boiling point. Some are calling it a “Miner Spring”.

What started as a labour dispute at Lonmin in Marikana, it turned deadly almost a month ago and has quickly evolved into a national crisis, which has touched on everything from service delivery to the ANC succession battle. And then there’s Julius Malema, who many have accused of fanning the flames of an already volatile situation.


Stay tuned to our liveblog for live updates on this unfolding story.

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Literary Festival 2012: Live blog

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Mail & Guardian

Follow all the sessions of the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival, which brings together well-known figures from the world of publishing and media for five days of debate and discussion at the Market Theatre.

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